Catch Me
by letgolaughing
Summary: AU where Regina and David find themselves tumbling through the hat in to the Enchanted Forest instead of Emma and Snow. Rated M for future chapters. I suck at summaries ;)
1. Chapter 1

**I'm back! Hahaha I do hope you enjoy this story :) I chose to stick with the name David this time around because I like saying it more than I like saying James. Correction: I like Regina saying David more than I like her saying James ;)**

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Her muscles screamed in protest as she sat up and her hands immediately found her pounding head as she cringed at the pain and the bright light. It took her a few moments to remember but the unimpressed voice of the oh so charming prince brought it all back quickly.

"Oh look. She's awake," he glared down at her and she opened her eyes and glared right back, her hands still holding her head.

"Fuck off."

His eyes widened a little at the choice of words from the woman, "_really_?" She only shot him another glare before working her way to her feet, "I'm not exactly thrilled about this either Regina but we can at least try to get along long enough for us to figure out a way back!"

She was in no mood to be talking to someone with practically no knowledge of magic and a very very thick head, "what you mean to say is that the only reason you didn't leave me here or kill me while you could was because I am your only chance to getting back to Storybrooke and your precious family," she spat, her lips curled back in a snarl as she wiped the dust and debris from her clothing and hair.

"Word it however you like Regina, the point is we are stuck here and while you are _the_ most _difficult_ woman I have ever had the displeasure of meeting you are infuriatingly smart and no I do not know how to get back but I know you do so yes I am going to take advantage of that."

"Well I am sorry to disappoint you," she hissed and her posture moved forward aggressively, "but I have no idea how to get back."

"Knock off the act, I know you want to get back there to Henry!"

"This isn't an act, Charming!"

"Send us back!"

"Do I look like I am in _any_ position to do such a thing?!" She hissed furiously, her arms waving about in quick sharp movements.

"Open another portal! You have magic!"

She laughed at him coldly in disbelief, "yes. Yes! Yes let's just open a portal! Let's just open a portal and jump right on back to Storybrooke!" Her loud voice dripping with furious sarcasm and her arms began to move loosely and aimlessly in her rage as she continued to point out all the faults in his angry demand, "let's go portal jumping dear! I know of so many great places that we can visit on our way back let me just grab my...huh...oh wait," she laughed in false humor before all but screaming a him, "I don't have a god damn portal David!" She was absolutely seething.

"Then make one!"

"Are you _serious_ right now?! Is your brain really that small?!" She squinted her eyes and knitted her brow incredulously, "if I could just whip up a portal out of mid air I'd be gone and I would have already left your sorry ass here! If I had any way back at all I wouldn't be standing here!"

David adjusted his posture so he leaned forward and moved his hand as he spoke angrily through his snarl, "so what you're saying is that we are stuck here unless by some miracle we find a way back?!"

"Yes that is exactly what I'm saying!" At the sound of a sword being drawn she looked past David as he turned around to the source of the sound as well. A woman with long dark hair dressed in Chinese armor stood in front of them with her sword drawn while a second woman stood behind her in a purple gown. She immediately recognized the warrior and she felt she recognized the girl as well and for confirmation she took a quick glance around the area only to recognize the castle and have her suspicions proved correct. She was not at all impressed, "oh this is just _great_!"

"Who are you? Where did you come from?"

David looked the woman up and down and spoke, "we are just trying to find a way back home. Would you be able to tell us where we are?"

"We are in the Enchanted Forest. Where else would we be? I told you that we were sending the wraith to the Enchanted Forest! I told you right to your face, do you ever listen to anything people say to you?"

David's shoulders dropped in irritation and he turned back around to face the infuriating brunette, "I did not ask _you_ where we were, I asked _them_! In case you haven't noticed I do not trust you and you were quite insistent that our land was gone, an empty void!"

"The fact that you even believed me when I said that makes you quite simple minded. I took the people I didn't take the land! What the hell would I do with an entire realm?! Put it under the library with Malificent?!"

"I didn't exactly have a lot of time to think on it considering I was busy helping save your life from a soul sucking demon!"

"Are you two...married?"

Regina shot her attention to the princess and laughed a cold laugh before baring her teeth and looking her up and down, "are you asking me to snap your neck?"

"Jesus Regina!"

"What?! As if I would ever be married to you!"

"A simple 'no' would have sufficed!" He threw his arms in the air as their voices raised in to shouting once more.

"You brought the wraith here."

David turned back to face the Chinese woman and raised his hands a little, "to be fair we didn't know anyone was still here."

"You killed Phillip!" Aurora shrieked, tears and anger burning behind her eyes.

"Don't even start _princess_," she snapped and the girl's eyes shot to her own.

"Y-you know who I am? How do you know who I am?!"

"I know quite well who you are Aurora," she looked the girl up and down with her jaw set in irritation, "your prince is very much alive, his soul is just somewhere else now how you came to be acquainted with the respectable Mulan I do not know and I do not particularly care but I do offer her my greatest sympathies for taking on such a trying task as yourself. I have my own problems to deal with and I do not care to waste my time with you."

She started to walk forward and David caught sight of the woman Regina called Mulan move to stop her with her sword and he opened his mouth to tell her not to do it but he wasn't quick enough. Mulan lunged forward with her sword but Regina simply stepped to the side and used the woman's momentum to flip her so she landed flat on her back.

Impressed as he may have been at the effectiveness and strength of Regina's movement considering she had been sitting behind a desk for twenty eight years, he was no less irritated. He rubbed his hands over his face and through his hair as he walked over to the startled and winded warrior, "you could at least try to be friendly," he called to Regina and bent down and offered to help the woman up, "indifferent even. They may be able to help."

"I didn't ask for their help."

David laughed and took Mulan's hand, "right. And when," he pulled her to her feet and looked to Regina, "was the last time you asked for help?"

Regina rolled her eyes and looked back at the prince, "I'm still standing."

"You are balancing on a thread in a storm."

"Standing nonetheless," she squinted her eyes and pushed her head forward irritably.

He really just wanted to shake her. Instead he put on an irritated smile, absolutely hating how much he needed her right now, "let's just try and get through the day without killing each other. Okay?" He ended with his voice a little higher pitched to match his agitation.

"Well I must say I never thought I'd hear that come out of your mouth," she dead panned and he clapped his hands together and squeezed them tight as he clenched his jaw so as not to lash out once more, "fine."

"Thank you," he nodded sharply and then turned his attention to Mulan and Aurora, "can you? Help us I mean?"

"Why should we help you? Who's to say you aren't going to kill us when our back are turned?"

"God, you see Regina? You make things so much more difficult than things have to be!"

Regina simply rolled her eyes and stalked up to the princess and the warrior, "neither of us have any intention of harming you or the princess or anyone else for that matter. We want to get home! So you will take us to your camp and you will not try anything funny or so help me I will kill you both on the spot and find it myself," she hissed and after a tense few moments Mulan sheathed her sword and Regina backed off completely and smiled an almost genuine smile, "thank you."

Mulan didn't know why but she believed the hot tempered brunette's every word and her instincts were not often wrong. So she sheathed her sword and was quite surprised by the woman's change in demeanor at her agreement to her request. The air of danger was almost completely gone, only irritation at her predicament was left, "come on then. It's a long journey."

Regina simply nodded and waited for Mulan to take the lead and when the princess' furious and suspicious stare found herself Regina only held it hotly. She didn't bother to look at David before she began to follow the two women ahead of her.

"This doesn't prove anything," he pointed at Regina as she continued to walk and he fell in step behind her, "that was a fluke. How in the hell did you even manage that?"

"Doesn't matter, I got you what you wanted and I had hoped it would shut you up," she deadpanned and wiped more dust off her thighs, "being nice isn't always the solution. You have to take what you want Charming before it's gone."

"Ah the life lessons of Regina Mills, taking what you want whenever you want and however you want! What will I learn next?!"

Regina stopped abruptly and turned on her heels just as quickly, barely giving him enough time to stop before he ran in to her, "you know absolutely nothing about me," she snapped quietly and a little too vulnerably for her liking, "do not talk to me as though you do." She had hoped he wouldn't have noticed but when his brow furrowed ever so slightly and his gaze softened subtly she knew he did catch it. With a final glare she turned back around and continued walking after Mulan and Aurora.

He hadn't really thought about it, about what her life had and had been. Perhaps he would think on it later when less was already on his mind. The way she had snapped at him had certainly caught him off guard. It was the most emotion he had ever see in her aside from fury and it was a mess of emotions at that. A very intriguing mess.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again! I am happy to hear you are enjoying the story :) The next one will be the start of things changing between the two and I will be sure to post it before I go camping in the middle of nowhere and disappear for a week! I hope you enjoy this chapter and I do love reading all of your reviews :)**

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Aurora often glanced over her shoulder at the suspicious brunette who knew a lot more about them than they knew about her. All she knew was that her name was Regina and she had a sharp tongue. Aurora did not trust her as Mulan did and as she trailed behind Mulan away from Regina she eyed her sword.

Regina was quick, she had proven that when Mulan had initially gone after her so Aurora figured she would just have to be quicker. The woman brought the wraith there and it took Phillip from her or his soul as she so claimed. She looked at the sword again. Regina was behind her on her left, David behind her on her right, and Mulan just askew in front of her. In one swift movement she pulled Mulan's sword out and spun quickly to hit Regina but the woman simply let her coat fall from her fingertips and lifted her arm so her forearm stopped the flat side of the sword and she glared at her through cold dark eyes and a mouth set in an angry scowl.

She felt intense fear at the woman's hard stare and the fact that she didn't even flinch or waver at the heavy sword that she had swung with great force didn't calm any of it.

"Aurora!"

"No," David caught Mulan and held her back as she fought him to get free, "let her get it out of her system or she won't knock it off. Regina won't kill her," when she stopped fighting him he let go and hoped that Regina wouldn't prove him wrong.

"You think a mere sword can kill me?"

"You took Phillip!"

"Again with Phillip! He's not dead!" She growled and Aurora swung the sword again and Regina blocked it once again with her other arm this time and then spun the blade hilt over tip, ripping it from the princess' grip and taking it in her own and resting the tip against her jugular. "I am so _sick_ of everyone trying to kill me! One would think that after all the failed attempts people would give up! And then to be given such a foolish and inexperienced _child_ is just an insult to my name," she spat and removed the sword from the girl's throat and without breaking eye contact with Aurora, she threw the sword so it stuck in the ground at Mulan's feet.

She took two steps closer so she was practically touching the princess as she pulled her lip back in a snarl as she hissed at her, not at all oblivious to the way she was tense and vibrating with fear, "I could kill you with a wave of my fingers. If you're going to try and kill me again at least make it a _challenge_!"

She was absolutely terrifying and it felt like her dark eyes looked right through her and bore holes in to her very core, her snarl shaking her to the bone, and the way she loomed over her had her trying to stop quivering in fear and find her breath again. "Phillip is gone because of you," she managed to get out through her fear clenched jaw.

"Fighting me isn't going to get you anywhere," she spat and leaned further forward causing the princess to step back, "you either waste your time trying to kill me or you channel your anger in to getting him back! Be grateful that you have that option _princess_."

"Like you would know what I feel!" Aurora snapped angrily and took half a step forward to regain the ground she had given up.

"I know _exactly_ what you feel!" She screamed and the girl flinched but Regina did not lower her voice, "it hurts! It feels like it is the end and that you will never recover! That the only way you can have peace is to kill the woman you believe caused his death! You can feel yourself spiraling down in to darkness but there is _no one _that cares enough to catch you!"

Regina glared at her, she had revealed a little more of herself than she had intended and she had to force herself to stop so she wouldn't continue on and work herself in to tears, "hunting me will do you no favors."

"How do you know that?!" She was yelling now and the brunette still didn't flinch, "killing you would allow my wounds to heal! I could get him back and we could live in peace!"

"I know it won't work because I have been hunting the same woman for years! Decades! I am falling apart at the seams!" She screamed and brought her hands up between them and tensed her hands and fingers so they shook, "there is no point to it! It is not worth it in the end!"

"I am not you!"

"What makes you think that you are so special you won't fall into the same destructive path?!" Her chest was heaving with frustrated breaths, the both of them worked up with their screaming. The princess had no answer but Regina didn't move back and she kept her expression the same, expectant of an answer from Aurora. She received nothing so Regina answered for her, "nothing."

Any tension left in the air was shattered when the loud roar of an ogre was heard as the large creature charged through the tree line toward them. Regina didn't so much as bat an eye and she watched as David and Mulan ran toward it.

Regina stood entirely relaxed and her head followed the princess when she jumped and cowered off to her side and a little behind her. She held her gaze with her brow furrowed when wide blue eyes looked at her. Regina simply shook her head and lifted her hand to motion at the large beast David was yelling at to distract it from Mulan who was waiting for a good shot, "it's just an ogre."

"Just an- are you serious?!" The brunette's expression remained disappointed in her reaction and almost confused, "these creatures have ravaged our land! How can you be standing here without a hint of fear in your eyes?!" She shuddered at the loud roar from the ogre but the woman remained unfazed, as a matter of fact there was now amusement in her expression.

Regina shook her head slowly, her voice low and laced with laughter, "you still have no idea who I am do you," she smiled at the girl's confused expression and then turned her attention back to David and Mulan. She was growing impatient.

"Hey!" David yelled and when the ogre looked his way once more he shot a glance to Mulan who had her sword ready. He hated how inconvenient ogres were to kill when you didn't have a bow. He started yelling again and ran backwards to lead the blind ogre closer to Mulan but before he could get much further the ogre's enraged roar was cut off and forever silenced when a tree was launched over David's head and in to the ogre's eye and skewered its head, forcefully knocking the creature backward in to the tree line on the edge of the clearing.

He stared at it for a long time with Mulan, confused as to what exactly had just happened. After a few long seconds of staring at the dead ogre he turned around to where the tree had come from and found Regina standing irritably with Aurora whose mouth was open in shock.

"Are we done then? I am growing rather bored with this."

David laughed quietly and shook his head, "only you would find ogres a bore."

"And now it's dead which makes it all the more ridiculous that we are all still standing here," she sighed and shook her head slowly, "can we continue on now?"

"Does her majesty know the way?" His voice filled with exaggerated politeness as he smiled in irritated amusement and pushed his arms out at his side.

"If I was told where we were actually going then yes I would," she had her hands on her hips and her head pushed forward with her eyebrows raised.

"Your maj- you're the queen?!" Aurora looked her over in shock and Regina only glanced at her irritably over her shoulder before looking back to David and Mulan. It made sense really, when they had found them in the beginning the two of them were arguing about her bringing people and land to another place, Regina had mentioned Malificent's name as well. It would certainly explain her hot temper and the way she could have you fearing for your life with one glance through harsh dark eyes. Not to mention the ability to effectively use magic she had just shown.

"Call me 'evil' and I'll tear your throat out."

David sighed and shook his head, "definitely not helping your case with that statement there Regina."

"Shut it Charming," she hissed and shifted her weight, "I am in no mood to have your voice grating on my ear drums."

"I suppose you wouldn't like to hear a 'thank you' then?"

"Well you can always give that a try."

With a shake of his head David laughed under his breath and motioned to the ogre with his arm, "thank you Regina for finding it in that dark heart of yours to save us the time and effort of having to kill this ogre ourselves."

Regina smirked and tucked her chin in, "I do not appreciate the sarcasm dear."

...

David fell in step with Regina and watched as she moved her hands over her forearms, a soft purple glow in the palm of each hand as she moved them over her injured forearms one at a time. Only the left one was cut because when she had blocked Aurora's second blow he noticed she didn't get the flat side of the sword but instead got hit with the sharp edge before it was rotated to rest on the flat side. She hadn't flinched though when it happened which he found rather impressive seeing as how she had clearly not used magic and the blow to her right arm left a nasty bruise that was already turning her soft skin purple, "why didn't you use magic?"

"I didn't need to," she looked up at him irritably and then continued with her arms, "it wouldn't have done me me any good anyway, Mulan's sword deflects magic."

"How do you even know all of this? How is it possible to keep track of everything in your head?"

"Unlike you, I actually use my head to think instead of just hitting things with," she deadpanned and let her right hand linger over the deep cut on her left arm to assure it healed properly.

He shook his head and breathed out his nose and let her comment slide this time only because he wanted to know something else, "what you said to Aurora, did you mean it?" At her irritated huff of air he elaborated, "that hunting Snow all of these years wasn't worth it? That you wish you hadn't started to begin with?"

"I didn't say I wish I hadn't started."

"It was strongly implied."

"I drove myself in to madness chasing that stupid girl," she pulled the sleeves back down on her white shirt, the left one cut and stained with blood and then roughly pulled her navy blue blazer back on and flipped her hair out of the white trimmed collar, "I never wanted any of this," she snarled and pulled her blazer straight.

James furrowed his brow thoughtfully at her and asked quietly, "what did you want?"

No one had asked her that question and now it was too late and it made her heart ache painfully, her voice quietening and softening a lot more than she had hoped for, "I wanted to love my stable boy..."

David found himself frowning at her reply and studied her as her mask faltered for a few moments and he felt a sad and broken warmth flow from her. It was like a punch in the gut and he discovered it was a little harder to breathe for those short moments. It was the first he had seen of her humanity. Well the first he had seen as himself and not as Storybrooke David. Even when they spent time together during the curse it was hard to read or feel anything off of her but for these few moments were different.

He knew for a fact that she didn't mean to show him that and two steps later the mask was back and her bitter tone had returned. He didn't really know why but he flinched at her next words.

"Doesn't matter what I want though now does it."

David sighed quietly through his nose, "I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know, Regina," he was answered with a scoff and a single cold and disbelieving laugh. He simply shook his head at her, not wanting to start yet another argument. Especially one that he would only have the stubborn brunette infuriating him further. He moved his gaze over her once again and judging by the way she held her tight jaw he was lead to assume she was having a bit of a furious tantrum within herself.

"Can I see your hand?"

"Do you have eyes?"

David physically bit his tongue to keep himself from retaliating and instead kept his voice tight with pent up frustration, "_may_ I see you hand?"

"No."

David closed his eyes with an irritated huff and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Regina."

"What?" She snapped hotly and glared at him sideways.

He fought to stomp down his bubbling anger toward her hostile behavior and keep his tense voice from expressing such disdain, "I just want to know that if through this unfortunate travel arrangement you had managed to rid yourself of the wraith's mark or if we had to add a wraith to our list of things to be wary of."

Regina opened her mouth to hiss her reply but was stopped mid breath by Mulan's calm voice.

"There can only be one person marked by a single wraith at a time. In marking himself Phillip took Regina's place and unintentionally saved her and was killed or...lost his soul rather instead."

This woman had pure dumb luck. But he wouldn't dare say it with the ears of Mulan and Aurora listening so as not to upset either of them with Phillip's predicament, "I would still feel better if I saw your hand."

"I am not in the business of making you feel better."

David laughed irritably under his breath and fell back in to the habit of treating her like an object he did not care for rather than a human being and snatched her left wrist up and lifted it to his eye level to find that her palm was indeed free of any mark. She ripped her arm back to her side and his irritated blue gaze met an absolutely seething dark brown one. Her jaw was clenched and her lips were pulled back in a snarl and then he said the wrong thing in the wrong tone, "thank you."

With a deadly cock of her head she slipped the toe of her boot under a good sized stick and tossed it up to her hands and jabbed him hard in the stomach causing him to drop to his knees with a pained huff. Anger clenching her fingers around the stick she bent down so she could look him in the eye, "don't touch me," she hissed viciously and threw the stick back to the ground in front of the winded Prince before standing up straight and stepping away.

Aurora moved closer to Mulan and whispered nervously and disbelievingly, "you still think it's a good idea to bring her to the safe haven?"

Mulan nodded at Regina who showed no anger toward her only a frustration with David that had been toned down significantly. She turned on her heels and continued leading the way with Aurora close on her heels and Regina a few strides behind leaving David to pick himself back up, "she hasn't hurt anyone. She has kept her word and I intend to keep mine. She is perfectly fine until someone provokes her so just don't do so. Consider yourself lucky. She could have killed you."


	3. Chapter 3

**Things start to change between them in this chapter :) As for the location of this chapter no one said where her property was in relation to anything else and it's my story and I wanted this to happen early on ;) I am hoping to get a bunch of writing done while I'm away for the week so that I can post the updates for this story as well as SLBP more regularly when I get back but I'm not making any promises. Enjoy! **

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She hadn't been paying much attention to her surroundings at all. When she wasn't bickering with David, or Aurora she was silently thanking whatever god there may be for giving Mulan the grace to leave her be, or she was thinking about Henry, thinking about if she should find a way back, or she was just simply letting her mind run blank. It was only when she caught her toe on something that sounded to be wood under the overgrown grass that she snapped back to the present.

She stopped in her tracks and looked down with her brow furrowed as she thoughtlessly pushed away the grass with her foot to uncover a pole that was painted red and white. Instantly her lips parted and it felt like there was something squeezing her sore heart. She recognized these poles and fallen standards. She had used them to jump Rocinante.

He looked over his shoulder when he came to realize that she was no longer just behind him. He didn't want to lose her, he wanted to keep an eye on her to keep her from causing mass panic and chaos, "Regina," he called but there was no answer and no movement. So with an irritated huff he walked back up to her, "come on we have to keep moving," she only shook her head and turned around quickly to face the abandoned stable at the top of the hill.

"I have to go somewhere..." She whispered as tears filled her eyes and she made a point to avoid any and all eye contact with him.

"Seriously? We have to keep moving!" She simply ignored his frustrated tone and walked away from him, "Regina!" She continued to ignore him so he chased after her and took her arm firmly in his hand but she only planted her feet in the ground and kept her back to him as she continued to avoid eye contact but he was not oblivious to the way she was suddenly quivering. Quickly he put together that the feared queen was crying and he instantly let go of her arm as though he had been burned and she continued on her way up to the abandoned stable.

He stared at the stable on the hill curiously as she walked with the weight of the world on her shoulders and suddenly his heart simply plummeted and shattered on the ground. The stable. Stable boy.

Silently he debated whether or not to follow her. He knew if he went up there he would not find the queen he knew and hated. He knew that if he went up there he would find the woman she hid beneath the queen and he did not know who that woman would be. Gently he cleared his throat and turned to face the Mulan and Aurora, "I'll go get her," he nodded and then turned to walk up the hill where Regina had disappeared.

He didn't particularly like what he found. She sat in the middle of the dirtied floor with her legs curled beside her, her hands in her lap, and her head bowed as quiet cries shook her shoulders. He could only frown as his chest tightened with sadness, "Regina?" He called her quietly and so _so_ gently.

She only shook her head in defeat, "I used to be so happy," she felt just raw, "this is the only place I have ever been truly happy."

She sounded so small and he was relieved he couldn't see her face because her eyes were the most expressive he had ever seen and right now he had a feeling they would be utterly broken and overflowing with pain and loneliness. He walked a little closer to the crumbled woman, not the queen, who had truly lost everything, "come on," he coaxed softly, "let's get us all back."

She laughed humorlessly and quietly through her tears, "to what?" She whispered. She had no reason to go back. Yes there was Henry but who was she kidding, he wanted Emma he didn't want her. He would never be hers. Yes it would hurt to let him go but would it hurt more than watching him grow up with another? No. No she didn't believe it would, "I don't want to leave," the tears fell silently and painfully down her cheeks through closed eyes.

He shook his head and swallowed the thick sadness in his throat as he walked around so he stood in front of her. When he looked down at her he saw no evil, no pride, no queen, no fight, no fire, just defeat. Defeat, pain, and loneliness in the woman who only caused pain because she knew nothing else.

He had come to that sudden realization now. That good only caused her pain and heartbreak so why not just save herself the disappointment and dwell in the grief and hatred that would eat at her anyway. Just get it over with.

He crouched down so he balanced on his toes and sat on his heels and handled her with tenderness as he reached forward and gently lifted her chin with the side of his finger. Red lips parted with despair and she opened her eyes slowly as she allowed him to lift her hung head. Those dark eyes were filled with nothing but a heartwrenching grief and surrender, "Regina," he said softly and her eyes filled with more tears that fell down her cheeks, "when was the last time someone held you?" He asked tenderly and she began to quiver and shake her head slowly as the tears fell faster.

She was not prepared. She was not prepared to be thrown back in to this land, she was not prepared to see her stables again, she was not prepared for the overwhelming rush of memories provided by this place, she was not prepared for her enemy to treat her with such tender and honest kindness. She was trying with any fight she may have left to keep herself from completely breaking down but it was not exactly working.

When was the last time she was held? She couldn't even remember what it felt like to be held. That was the last time she was held, so long ago that she couldn't remember what it was like, "Daniel," she whimpered and cocked her head slightly as she continued to shake her head, his finger still holding her chin up.

Nearly half a century without being touched lovingly by another or even in a manner of lucid friendship. What would that feel like? He tried for a moment to imagine it but the ache in his chest made him stop because he realized it would only grow to be unbearable. And then to watch people live happily around you? She had Henry to hold her when he was small he would imagine but Henry would not have been able to comfort her in the way she needed.

Without a second thought he moved so he sat next to her and he pulled her in close and she fought it, of course she did but he held her anyway and soon she gave in. She gave in to the strong steady arms he wrapped around her and she cried in to him while her hands balled in to tight fists and brought his shirt with them.

He held her unconditionally and let his heart go out to her and offer her some sort of hope perhaps. He supposed he had just never sat down and tried to put himself in her place. But really why would he have done that?

She had forgotten what a relief it was to have someone to turn to when you were simply done and tired. Her walls were torn down and everything, all of the hatred, anger, grief, joy, pain, and love poured out of her. She couldn't hold it back, there was too much that had been buried down and bottled away inside her that she just burst, "I miss him," she sobbed and shook in the prince's arms.

"I know," he whispered and lowered his head down on to hers and tightened his arms around her as he closed his eyes, "I know you do."

It was so easy to fall into the illusion that it was Daniel holding her close. The smells, the sounds, the sights, and the feel of strong and seemingly familiar arms around her had her almost truly believing he was there and not the charming shepherd turned prince. It had her completely losing her composure and wailing in to his chest and wrapping her arms around his neck, afraid to let go. The arms around her only grew tighter and that made her cry harder.

He remained silent and allowed her to break down in his arms. He handled her with great care for he knew that any misstep would cause her to shut down again or turn violent. There was one thing about her that he knew above all else and that was that she did not show weakness, she did not expose where she was vulnerable. Now that she had sent herself in to hysterics he knew not to make any move that would make her fully aware of how vulnerable she had become. So he kept still and silent and held her close and tight as her raw pain plucked his heart strings.

He didn't move when she lifted her head and rested her forehead against his and continued to cry. Her eyes were still shut but tears still fell through thick dark lashes.

"Kiss me, Daniel."

It was then that he felt his heart crush in his chest. She had forgotten who he really was and lost herself in the love she had lost and never gotten past. He fought hard within himself. Kiss her unconditionally and perhaps soothe her wounded heart for a little while or deny her innocent request and save themselves the awkwardness and tension that would rise later.

Her broken cries were getting to him though and the true innocence and heartbreaking pain of her request were what led to his decision.

Slowly and carefully he removed one arm from around her shaking figure and brought his hand up to softly hold her face, his heart wrenching when she leaned in to his touch. With plenty of second thoughts he tilted his chin up and caught her lips in his in the most comforting way, the way he imagined the innocent and young love shared between a girl and her loving stable boy.

Her soft lips tasted of her tears and he wiped them away from her cheek with his thumb as she cried through the kiss. He didn't make any move to advance it, he only reciprocated when she parted her lips and cried in the moment it took for her to softly kiss him back as she quivered in his arms. He wasn't expecting her to be so gentle with her kiss and that combined with how she broke it off suddenly with a harsh sob and fingers clawing at his shirt simply shattered the image of the woman he thought he had known.

He shook his head at her, his heart just aching in his chest and he kissed her cheek before pulling her head in to his shoulder and holding it there. David lowered his own head down on hers and closed his eyes tightly as her painful cries were continuously muffled by his shoulder and her fingers constantly tried to grasp for more to hold.

He remained silent however and let her cry it all out. There was no reason for him to interrupt. He didn't want to be in Regina's head right now.

...

"What are you doing?" Aurora questioned suspiciously when she and Mulan stopped in the stable doorway to find the snappy brunette asleep in her supposed enemy's arms.

"We aren't going any further today," he kept his voice down to a near whisper so as not to wake Regina.

"We can't stay here in the open," Mulan snapped, "the ogres-"

"Are not here," he finished sternly and quietly, turning his head slightly so he could just see her over his shoulder, "as long as we are quiet there isn't a great chance they'll find us anyway."

"There is still daylight left, if we continue our journey we can-"

"I'm not going anywhere until this woman has gotten a good sleep," he wasn't usually one to cut off other's mid sentence but he was in no particular mood to listen to anyone right then. He had accomplished a lot of thinking after Regina had fallen asleep and none of it was pleasant, none of it friendly. He had found himself living his life over again only this time living it through Regina's eyes. The only joys he found in her life were Daniel, the success of the curse, and the receiving of Henry, all were short lived and all ended in despair and loneliness.

"Why?!" Aurora hissed and folded her arms over her chest, "we are all tired, she doesn't get special treatment."

"The woman hasn't slept in over two days and with the emotional stress that came with those days it's a wonder how she made it this far at all without collapsing," with the newly acquired insight to the emotional storm playing behind her mask that last statement was not applied to just the last forty eight hours. "Unless you want a furious and exhausted witch on your hands then we are letting her sleep and we will continue to your safe haven in the morning," he was not bothered with any further protests from either woman. They simply retired themselves somewhere off behind him in the shelter of Regina's stables.

He could see it. He could see a bright young brunette hurrying to the stables to steal a kiss and kind words from her stable boy. A romance that was forbidden but was so right. A romance that was the brunette's lifeline and when it was cut off she had nothing left to keep her from slowly withering away until she was death itself.

Death had had never taken a more beautiful form. He frowned at the way his heart skipped in his chest when he softly brought his fingertips up to push a few strands of soft dark hair from her eyes and behind her ear. There was no denying that Regina was a beautiful woman to look at.


	4. Chapter 4

**And I'm back in civilization! Hahaha I had a great time camping and got a whole bunch of writing done for both stories. I am happy to hear you are enjoying this one and I can always waiting to read your reviews! :)**

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Regina woke up slow, comforted by the familiar smells around her that she thought may have been forgotten. It was then that she nuzzled her face in to the warm body that held her close and made her feel safe. Then her eyes flashed open. Daniel was dead, it was not Daniel's warm body she was pressed up against because Daniel's body was cold.

So cold.

That was when she pushed herself back and scrambled away across the stable floor with wide and sleep confused eyes.

David woke up with a start at the feeling of her getting ripped from his arms, "Regina?" He asked drowsily and looked up to find her sitting on the floor with her hands behind her bracing her weight and one leg bent at the knee so she was prepared to continue backward if need be. Her lips were parted and her eyes were wide and confused, likely trying to recall what exactly had happened, "you alright?" It was basically like trying to work with a terrified and dangerous animal who didn't trust a soul. So he sat up slowly and kept his expression open and gentle.

"What happened?"

"Do you not remember?" He asked softly, no threat, no taunt.

She bared her teeth as the tears began to pool in her eyes without her allowance, "what happened?"

He put his hands up a little in surrender and answered her truthfully, "you were upset. You claimed you didn't want to go back to Storybrooke and that this," he motioned to the stable they sat in, "was the only place you had ever been truly happy. I held you and you cried. You told me you missed Daniel," he paused for a moment as he contemplated giving her the last piece of what happened. She was starting to shake again and while the tears had pooled in her eyes again, none had yet fallen, "before you cried yourself to sleep you made a request," he continued tenderly and watched the first tears fall from terrified eyes, "and I obliged."

Regina's breath was shaky and she tried to calm it but it only seemed to get worse, "you kissed me," she whispered and he nodded his head in confirmation. She breathed out a quivering breath and felt the start of her retreating into herself, "why?"

Her voice was a heartbreaking whimper that had the clear implication that no one would willingly kiss her let alone kiss her without something in return. It was like being stabbed in the chest, she was so vulnerable and scared and that was all she was at any point in time it was just under the false mask she put in place, "because you asked me to and I felt that you needed it."

His honest and gentle tone was touching a place in her heart that she didn't want to be touched again because it had only brought her pain, "if I recall correctly I asked for Daniel to kiss me."

"Yesterday I _was_ your Daniel," he kept his voice soft and his head lowered slightly so as not to make himself seem above her, "it was just a kiss from me to you and you can do whatever you please with it. You can keep it close as a reminder that you are not a lost cause and that someone can care for you Regina," the tears in her eyes seemed to fall faster and she looked to be holding her breath, "or you can lock it away and forget about it and continue on like it never happened. Either way it is yours to keep with no strings attached."

She remained half sprawled across the stable floor, her muscles tense in preparation to flee. Her eyes darted between his own as she analyzed him, trying to find the lie or the metaphorical stab in the back. He could tell when she found none because her eyes went still and focused directly into his own.

He furrowed his brow in hurt that such a bright and beautiful girl had had to become such a ruined woman. Why was it that he hadn't seen it before?

He moved forward to touch her but realized a moment too late that it was too soon for that and she backed away hurriedly and pushed herself to her feet so she could all but run out of the stables wiping away her tears. He sighed and shook his head down so he was looking at the floor of the stable. Why did she have to show how scared and vulnerable she really was? How lonely and broken? How every day she just sat and cried on the floor with slumped shoulders and a bowed head with the shattered pieces of herself scattered around her and then crying more when those pieces crumbled in to dust and disappeared forever when she tried so _carefully_ to fit two together. Why did she have to show him that?

Yes she was his enemy but after seeing who she really was he couldn't help himself, his good nature that didn't like to see a broken soul had him silently promising himself to mend her. With a deep breath he rubbed his hands over his face and pushed himself to his feet. Mulan and Aurora were still fast asleep on the floor apparently having been more tired than they had claimed.

To befriend the Evil Queen, "alright," he breathed out and cleared his throat before walking outside to find Regina. She stood straight as she always did but when she became aware of his presence her back went a little rigid and her head was held high once more as she looked over the property that had once been her home, "it's kind of neat to see how things have changed here don't you think?"

"Don't talk to me."

David smiled and shook his head in amusement as he folded his arms over his chest, "I noticed there is a water pump just out the stable doors. These are your stables, do you think you could lead me to a bucket without sending me into a room that locks from the outside and you leave me to rot?"

"There is a room we used for tack across from the open tack stall. You should be able to find one in there."

"Thank you," he received a simple nod in reply and he smiled, "you are much more tolerable after you've gotten a good night's rest," he quipped and she shot him a glare over her shoulder as he backed away.

...

Aurora slowed her pace until she was next to Regina and fell in step beside her. Regina looked at her coldly and stepped to the side as she walked forward so she didn't have to be so close which was fine, Aurora took no offense, "I'm sorry for attacking you yesterday."

"Quite alright dear. I'm used to it."

"That's not exactly something a person should be used to," she furrowed her brow and watched the woman simply shrug her shoulders indifferently. "So...the love you lost. What happened?"

"I don't talk about it."

"Well if chasing down the woman who caused it all didn't help then perhaps talking about him-"

"I _said_ I don't talk about it," she snapped coldly.

"Regina," David warned from ahead of her and felt a hard slap on the back of his head that had him cringing and lifting his hand to rub the stinging area, "ow!" He turned to face Regina who was glaring at him as he walked backward and she continued forward, "did you just magic slap me?!"

"I am not your child nor am I your pet! You do not get to scold me!"

"You don't get to go around taking people's voices or smacking them upside the head because you don't feel like talking about a subject!"

"You do not get to tell me what I can and cannot do David!"

David laughed through his irritated growl and stopped walking causing Regina to nearly walk in to him and he gripped her arms beneath her shoulders tightly and his grip only tightened when she fought him, "knock it off."

"Let go of me!" She growled viciously and tried once again to tear herself from his grip.

"You can't keep doing this Regina!" He boomed and she glared at him with her teeth bared, "you need to change! Despite everything you have done in the past Snow still believes you can go back and I am here willing to give you yet another chance but you need to start trying harder!" She fought him yet again and when she started hitting his chest with her hands he let go of her arms and snatched her wrists and gave her a firm tug so she was pressed right up against him and couldn't move from there for he kept his hands around her wrists and her sides.

Her eyes were burning with rage and he could feel her chest rising and falling with furious breaths against his own body and her jaw was clenched with her teeth bared in a snarl but he didn't back down. Given their close proximity he lowered his voice so it was almost a whisper but it was no less clear or stern, "I am giving you another chance Regina. You show me who you are and you stop feeding the darkness and rage growing in your heart and I will help the rest of them see it, I will help Henry see it."

He knew he hit a nerve and she fought him again but he showed her it was pointless when he tightened his grip around her and kept her from backing away from him. He was certainly wary of what she could do to him but she needed to hear it, "this isn't you Regina, this isn't who you want to be."

"You don't know who I am!" She hissed and moved in even closer to him to try and regain the upper hand, "you don't know who I want to be!"

"No but I would love to find out," he countered honestly and she backed off almost unnoticeably, "you told me all you wanted was to love Daniel. If you give yourself a chance I'm sure you can find love again," he didn't like the way his heart skipped and his stomach flipped and fluttered suddenly, "prove to me that you can change. Prove to me that you can be good."

He held her close for a few moments longer until he felt her relax and watched her features soften slightly in agreement and only then did he let go of her, surprised by how he didn't want to. He surprised himself even more when he backed away from her and he found himself missing having her pressed up against him. "Do we have a deal?" He asked simply but insistently, Mulan and Aurora long forgotten.

Regina took a deep breath and ran her fingers though her hair and shifted her weight on to one foot. She knew he was right, that she needed to stop trying to be this person she no longer wanted to be, it was exhausting. She was just frustrated that he was right. Could she do it though? Could she prove herself to Prince Charming, the very image of 'good' that inside she too was good? "And if I slip?"

"If you have shown me enough I will pick you back up," he believed it was a fair answer and she seemed to agree for her worried and rather timid voice was strong again when she spoke once more.

"Deal."

"Excellent," he smiled approvingly and nodded once, "I am looking forward to meeting the real Regina," he raised his eyebrows when she opened her mouth and took a breath to snap at him but she clamped her mouth shut instead and pushed past him mumbling something indeterminable under her breath but he smiled because he knew it wasn't anything kind and she kept it to herself. Progress.


	5. Chapter 5

**Oh snap look who has come to play now! ;) enjoy my amazing followers! I am going to go ride my horse now and will read your reviews when I am done :)**

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With the fire started and burning well, David looked over his shoulder to check on Regina. She sat by herself in the dark with her knees brought to her chest and her chin resting on them and her arms holding them in place as she looked up at the stars. He was curious to see what would happen to her if she had someone treat her with kindness. There was something in her that was salvageable. He believed that much now and it was going to be much easier to salvage now that she had agreed to try harder and prove herself.

Without a word he stood up from his place on the ground next to the fire and ventured out into the cool air with a blanket in hand. She hadn't said much at all since their spat earlier that day and he let her be and let her come to terms with their deal. He stopped behind her and wrapped it around her small frame and smiled just a little in friendly greeting when she jumped a little and stared up at him with wide eyes. Her expression didn't grow cold or angry, only more guarded when he sat down next to her so their sides were nearly touching, "it's warmer by the fire."

"I'm fine."

David nodded silently as he looked at her, her face looking even softer in the moonlight and her hair and skin contrasted even further, the dark strands seeming to dance with flames from the warm glow of the fire behind them. She really was a beautiful woman, it was truly a shame that she was so damaged inside. When her fingers curled around the edges of the heavy wool blanket to pull it closer around her he could only smile as a soft warmth bloomed in his chest. He really enjoyed watching her be human, "what are you thinking about?"

His genuinely curious tone had her looking his way with a brow knitted together in suspicion, "why?"

"No reason really. Just a conversation starter I suppose. So what goes on in the beautiful queen's mind when she's looking up at the stars?"

Regina furrowed her brow further and hissed, "if you think that just because I snapped in your care that the two of us can be best friends you are sorely mistaken."

"It was just a question Regina," he told her quietly with a small smile, "you looked lonely. No need to tear my head off. Besides," he shrugged, "who said I want to be your friend?" He got a quiet and irritated scoff in return as she straightened her head to look ahead of them. She was snapping at him but it was half hearted and her voice was not nearly as vicious as it had been so he allowed it to go unaddressed, at least she was starting to try, "an easier question then, seeing as how you are just _so_ willing to talk. Why did you get Henry?"

She sat in silence with him for she didn't particularly want to talk. However she knew he wasn't going to stop pestering until she did. Something had settled in his mind that he needed to get her to talk and classic Charming didn't quit until he achieved what he had wanted, "I was lonely."

"Where did you get his name?"

"...I named him after my father," she whispered and hugged her legs closer as she closed her eyes tightly and frowned. She missed her father and she missed Henry.

David smiled sadly at her as she worked through whatever memories were playing back in her head, "good choice," she remained silent and still save for the odd shake of her shoulders every now and then when she fought back her tears. "You know you did do a wonderful job raising the kid Regina. All of your faults and darknesses aside, you are a great mother to that boy and from what I understand you didn't have a great example to follow. I mean sure you have your weaknesses but everyone does and he turned out perfectly fine. I mean it Regina, you are a good mother to Henry."

She had given up hope on hearing those words long ago and to hear them now after she gave in to believing that she had failed her son was like a lifeline, "thank you."

"You're welcome," he replied to her thick and emotional whisper with a gentle smile despite the fact that her eyes were still squeezed shut, "do you want to go back to Storybrooke?"

"I don't know what I want to do," she whispered sadly and shook her head.

"That's alright," he whispered back and then offered, "do you want to go to the fire?"

"No."

"Do you want to be alone?"

"...no," she whimpered and exhaled a quiet cry that she had tried to keep down. Neither of them said anything else, she only felt his hand run over her back comfortingly. She was so tired of being alone.

...

"We are here," Mulan announced as she led the trio behind her in to the camp past the sentries keeping watch. Leading the Evil Queen in to their safe haven sounded absolutely ridiculous but oddly enough she did trust the woman and she trusted that the brunette wouldn't do anything unless provoked. "I'm sure our leader would like to speak with you both," she looked over her shoulder at David and Regina.

"That's fine," David nodded and Regina said nothing only walked beside him and he watched her intently as she snatched a dagger from a man's belt without his notice. "What the hell are you doing?" He asked quietly as she spun the small blade between her fingers and then handed it to him.

When he refused to take it she huffed quietly, "when all things go to hell would you prefer to be unarmed?" After a moments pause he nodded and took the dagger, "besides," she dropped her arms to her sides only to subtly snag a bow and quiver full of arrows and handed those to them as well, "they may come in handy on our way home," she smiled and his expression brightened happily as he slung the weapon over his shoulder.

"You mean it? Have you figured out a way?" He didn't even care to ask her how her fingers had gained the skill of snatching items without notice when she handed him a leather skin used to hold water.

"Perhaps," she smiled again and he laughed happily under his breath and then turned his gaze ahead of them. Her fingers simply plucked another dagger for herself from a man who passed by a little too close as she lifted her gaze to look ahead of them as well.

"May I ask who it is?" He questioned Mulan simply followed her pointed hand as they walked, "Lancelot?" The man turned to his name and David smiled at the man and called, "it's been a long time!"

"Indeed it has!" Was it really her? It was, she was there. What was she doing and how did she get there? Why was she with the prince? She looked so well.

Regina furrowed her brow slightly at the man as he walked up to them for he seemed to take a particular interest in herself rather than in David the man that he was supposed to be old friends with. There it was, that sense of magic. She watched the men pull each other in to a hug and pat each other on the back firmly and she only smiled and hummed irritably.

"Now may I ask what she is doing here?"

David could only smile and shake his head at the man, "she's harmless-"

"Oh thanks."

He laughed a little and then enunciated his continuation of his sentence, "unless you make her angry or threaten her in any small way. She's actually quite friendly," he added quietly and laughed under his breath at Regina mumbling angrily to herself, "aren't you your majesty?"

"Yes so friendly in fact that I may just end your miserable existence for you right here and right now. Shame about your wife though. She'd miss you," she raised her eyebrows and left her voice to play with sweetness and innocence as she tucked her chin in.

"Aren't you just a little bundle of joy," he pivoted to look at her and she gave him a purely sarcastic smile in return.

"Well if David here gives you the okay then I won't turn you down. My name is Lancelot."

Regina purred a displeased laugh through closed lips and cocked her head at his offered hand, "no it's not," she smiled and looked up at him.

"Regina what are you talking about, of course this is Lancelot."

Regina parted her lips and took a breath as she stepped closer to the man and David took a step back, "you have clearly fooled these people into believing that you are indeed Sir Lancelot former knight of the round table but I am not so easily fooled," she shook her head and squinted her eyes at him and he looked down at her with a smile.

Without letting her spell fall, Cora took a step closer so she was right in her daughter's space. Regina didn't back down, didn't even blink, "I wasn't sure you would catch it. Very impressive darling."

The endearment had her eyes widening and her mouth opening just a little and when the man's eyes went cold and that sickly sweet grin formed on his mouth Regina leapt backward in a panic and collided roughly in to David who caught her by her waist and helped her stand. She was too focused on the way her heart and breath went so frantic and unsteady to pay much notice to the way the rest of the people had been put on edge by her interaction with the person claiming to be Lancelot.

It only took a moment after her leaping away and David catching her before she enveloped the pair of them in a plume of purple smoke and they found themselves in a green clearing. Where exactly she didn't yet know but it was far enough away. She ripped herself from David's firm hold and her hands were up hovering over either side of her head, "no, no, no, no."

"Regina what the hell?!" She paid no attention to him she only continued to whispered to herself too quietly for him to hear, "Regina!"

"This can't be right, she is dead, I saw her body," she shook her head and pushed her eyes shut as she continued to whisper, "she is supposed to be dead! I am going to kill that god damned pirate!"

"Regina who was that?!"

"Shut up!" She turned around and screamed at him, her voice uneven and her hands pushed down at her sides. She was certain her expression was showing more fear than she had hoped for. She did however find she had calmed down after looking at him. She took a deep breath and rested one hand on her hip while the other found a place over her mouth for a few seconds before it was pushed back through her hair, "it was my mother."

David watched her shift her weight and close her eyes as she shook her head and let her other hand fall to rest on her hip as well, "your mother?"

"Yes."

"Alright...so we have a crazy and power hungry witch on our case. I've already handled you, how much worse can your mother be?" His question was more of a hopeful suggestion because considering the fact that Regina, the woman scared of no one took a flying leap away from her and in to him meant that she was to be feared.

"I am not even going to answer that question," she deadpanned, her cool mask back in place for the most part. She brought her hand up and pinched the bridge of her nose as she shook her head and closed her eyes. At the sound of him walking slowly she opened her eyes and lowered her hand and she was not at all impressed with what she found, "oh my _god_!"

David turned to face her and nearly snorted a laugh at the way she was looking at him with such frustration and disbelief. Her brow was furrowed and her lips were parted but she must have had no words to express the extent of her thoughts on how ridiculous she found his actions.

"Do _not_ tell me you were just looking for cell service!"

David shrugged and smiled as he laughed, "you never know."

"Yes, yes you do know! In this situation," she stuck her arms out at her sides and pointed her fingers down at the ground and spun her wrists in circles as she nodded, "you do know!"

"Worth a shot," he watched her open her mouth to bite back but she clamped her mouth shut again and groaned angrily before she turned on her heels and stalked away mumbling to herself. He laughed and shook his head as he began to follow her and extended his arm toward her with his cell phone in hand, "I have solitaire on this thing. Wanna play a game?"


	6. Chapter 6

**It's midnight but I have to stay awake so here is another chapter! Keep me awak with reviews please ;) I'm off to the Calgary Stampede tomorrow! Love the fact everyone pulled together to get the major flood cleaned up in time for it to still happen! The chapter after this one is my favorite so far! I'll post it in a couple days :)**

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"So what are your thoughts on getting back?"

"You are familiar with Lake Nostos yes?"

"Yes...but what does that have to do with getting back?"

"It returns the things that were once lost to you."

"Well yeah I know that but what does that have to do with getting back?" He received an unimpressed look from her over her shoulder as she continued on their way through the forest, "what?!"

"Now look who's snappy," she retorted and smirked to herself at the quiet frustrated huff coming from the prince behind her, "if I recall correctly there is a particular enchanted tree sitting in your daughter's nursery with the capability of sending two people back to the land where Storybrooke awaits."

"Oh," David nodded and raised his eyebrows as he thought it through, "that is actually a lot simpler than I thought it would be."

Regina laughed quietly and shook her head, "slow down there I'm not done yet."

"Great. I thought that sounded too good to be true."

"Ever climb a beanstalk before?"

"...for fuck sake! Are you serious?!"

"Yes dear."

"Why are we climbing a beanstalk?"

"We?"

"Regina!"

"What?" She laughed, thoroughly enjoying herself.

"Elaborate!"

"If I was going by myself I would not need to go to the beanstalk but seeing as how I am supposed to be proving myself to you I suppose I have to bring you along. As you know the wardrobe did not send Emma to Storybrooke but an area quite a ways away from the little town. If we were to simply use the tree again it would send us to the same place she landed. Outside the town line. Now I could come and go from Storybrooke as I pleased but there were consequences for anyone else who tried. Just because the curse is broken I do not think it is safe to assume that that line has simply disappeared. I know that there is a very small chance I would come to any misfortune or injury if I were to end up outside of Storybrooke but I cannot say the same for you."

David sighed and placed his finger and thumb of one hand on either temple and closed his eyes, "alright so how are we avoiding landing outside of Storybrooke by climbing a beanstalk?"

"We need to make a small adjustment to our destination and in order to do that we need a compass."

"Mhm and not just _any_ compass no we need the sparkly magical compass of wonder hidden somewhere at the top of a beanstalk guarded by and angry giant."

Regina chuckled and looked over her shoulder, "I am starting to think you're scared of heights Charming."

"Scared of heights and scared of falling off of heights are two completely different things."

Regina shrugged her shoulders and looked ahead of her once again with a smile, "I suppose. I could always go fetch it myself."

"No," he breathed out and shook his head, "no I'll come with you. I need you remember? Can't be careless with the things I need now can I?"

"Awe," she pursed her lips and smiled playfully over her shoulder, "how sweet."

David smiled a very sarcastic smile in return and she laughed quietly as she held back a large branch and allowed him to go past her and jump down the good sized drop first. Once he was steady he turned around and lifted his hands and waited for her to come to him. "So," he watched as she tried to figure out how to get down without his aid but he beckoned her forward with his fingers and her lips formed a thin line, "do you know where we are?"

She lowered herself down so she steadied herself with one hand on the forest floor at the edge of the drop and swung her legs off the edge. He caught her by her waist and her hands found their way to his chest when he held her against him. He was supposed to let go but he found he couldn't. Instead his eyes wandered over her mouth, her jaw, her neck, her collar bone, her breasts, and then slowly back up to her eyes to find her watching him with her eyebrows raised in a silent request for an answer as to why he was still holding her. He took a step back and let go of her waist with an innocent and apologetic smile, "sorry."

Regina shook it off and ignored the small flicker of warmth growing in the pit of her stomach and walked past him instead, "of course I know where we are. I know you weren't in the throne for very long but I would imagine you would have recognized your own property."

David looked around with new eyes but did not find he recognized anything at all. Not until Regina cautiously stepped out in to the open and he followed suit and found themselves walking down the overgrown road toward the ruined castle he used to call home.

...

"It's been practically destroyed," he spoke quietly as he looked around the castle lit up by only the fading colours of the setting sun.

Regina raised her eyebrows for a moment and responded indifferently, "good riddance."

David looked down at her quizzically as she walked beside him, "what do you mean?"

She shook her head and kept her voice neutral, "nothing. I don't want to be here very long can we please hurry and quit with the sightseeing?"

He heard her but his attention was refocused when they came upon the door that led to his and Snow's bedchamber. He made it to the threshold of the door when he noticed Regina had remained standing in the middle of the hallway, "are you coming?"

"I have not stepped foot in that room since a week before Leopold's death and I most certainly will not step foot in it now."

David furrowed his brow at her and he noticed her to seem more tense and flighty, "why not?"

"I have my reasons!" She snapped louder than she had intended and he cocked his head and opened his mouth to likely delve deeper but she cut him short, "I will meet you in the nursery when you have finished your gander," her heart was frantically racing enough as it was in the distance she was from the door. She did not need to get any closer.

He watched her leave with steps quicker than normal and he thought about following her but decided against it. She was not big on talking about what she buried deep within her and he saw no reason to set her off when she was still trying to dull the rest of her sharp edges. So he stepped over the crack in the stone floor and walked in to the room that once belonged to Leopold.

...

David walked in to the nursery to find Regina finishing a lap around the wardrobe with one hand on her hip and the other up so a finger was held between white teeth. She stopped in front of the wardrobe with her back to him and rested her weight on to one foot as she continued to think. He imagined her thoughts were on how to lug half an enchanted tree around behind them but when she waved her hand and set the entire thing on fire he was caught completely off guard.

"Regina!" She didn't turn around or move at all, she simply stood there and watched their way home burn to the ground as he ran up beside her, "what the hell are you doing?!"

Regina shrugged as though it was common knowledge, "making it portable."

"What?!"

Regina motioned to the burning wardrobe in front of them, "do you want to drag a tree around or would you rather a small vial of it's ashes?" She was met with silence and a smirk played on her lips when he lowered himself to the floor with a long sigh.

"You know you should probably run these things through with me before you do it so that I don't have an aneurism and die."

"Hmmm that sounds pleasing."

David laughed quietly and shook his head as he leaned backward and braced himself with his hands on the floor, "you like having me around and you know it."

"You have me using an unnecessary amount of time and energy."

"Didn't hear a 'no' in that sentence," he smirked and she looked down at him sideways without turning her head.

With a quiet breath she focused her eyes back on the fire, "you are much more tolerable than your wife."

"Well I'm going to take that as a 'yes David I do enjoy having you around' because I'm pretty sure that that's as close as I'm going to get," he smiled up at her and he could see the beginnings of a well hidden smile lifting the corner of her mouth.

"That is the most correct statement I've heard from you so far."

David chuckled quietly and shook his head in amusement, "you know what?"

"Hmm?"

"I quite enjoy your company."

Regina couldn't help the smile that curled her mouth and it was a truly genuine smile, "never thought you would say that now did you?"

David laughed a little louder and shook his head, "no, no I certainly did not!"

...

"How can you not see it?!"

"I can't see anything," she shook her head and laughed, the sound coming easier now than it had in a very long time, "I know the constellations used for travel but I do not see this dragon that you speak of."

"You don't know of it because I found it myself," he laughed as did she, the burning fire of the wardrobe slowly dying. The ceiling of the nursery had been torn away leaving the stars to be seen in the night sky. The pair of them had grown considerably more relaxed and comfortable in one another's presence in the time they had spent waiting for the wardrobe to stop burning and he found himself very much enjoying her, "right there! That star is-"

"Alright you do realize that when you point at something I do not see the same thing as you because you're at a different angle," she interrupted with a quiet laugh and a bright smile and he lowered his arm with a shrug and a smile.

"Okay so," without thinking he spun in place and laid back so his head was laying in her lap, both her legs outstretched in front of her and one slightly bent at the knee for comfort as she leaned back on her hands, "it starts there with that star," he pointed and she ducked her head down a little with a wonderful smile so her gaze was in line with his, "and then it goes over his back," he smiled a little wider as she laughed quietly with the satisfaction of finally seeing what he was seeing, "then his tail and his legs and back to his head..."

"And then those," she pointed up at the sky, "are his wings I would imagine?"

"Indeed they are," he grinned in approval and her smile grew all the wider, "have you not ever tried to make pictures in the stars?"

Regina shook her head and kept her eyes up, "no. I was too busy galloping under them to stop to try and make pictures," she smiled with barely closed lips and looked down at him without dropping her head too much.

"Fair enough," he chuckled and as she focused her gaze back on the sky he fully came to realize that he was laying in her lap. He was laying in her lap and like himself she had not thought much of it. If not for the fact that he was comfortable and she was completely relaxed and seemingly enjoying their current position as was he, he would have sat up. But he didn't.

He was truly surprised by how social Regina was. She enjoyed talking and she was surprisingly easy to talk to neither of which were things he had assumed given her tendency to remain isolate and constantly push people away from her. Another thing that surprised him was how much she enjoyed physical contact. It didn't have to be huge, in fact he believed that any big gestures such as a hug would be too much. She enjoyed the subtle touches such as the touch of his hand and fingers on her arm or leg as they spoke.

It made sense when he thought on it though. She had been alone and unloved for so long and being such a social person as he had now discovered, she would have missed speaking and missed being touched. She had a reputation to uphold though.

After a long while of sitting and laying in comfortable silence David sat up and pulled himself backward so his lower back rested lightly against Regina's thigh and his hands braced his weight on the floor across her legs on the other side of her. Their faces were closer now but it didn't seem to phase her in the slightest while he found his heart to suddenly begin to race in his chest and his stomach start to flip with a growing warmth. Her eyes were dark and friendly, no cold harsh appearance and her mouth was set in a content smile rather than a snarl or a scowl. Gentleness suited her well.

Regina saw him start to lean closer, his eyes focused on her mouth and she couldn't help but smile a little wider at how much easier it was to have the prince slip up than it was to have his Storybrooke persona. Under any other circumstances she would have allowed him to, urged him to but she had made a deal with him to be good, "the fire has stopped burning," she whispered and watched as he stopped in his tracks and his eyes snapped up to hers once again.

His blue had a very startled appearance, like he had just come to the realization as to what he had been doing. She remained unmoving and her smile remained on her mouth for she did not at all mind the gesture. She was flattered and slightly amused. There was also a hint of worthlessness, "you don't want me anyway."

With a smile running just a little sad she slid out from him and pushed herself to her feet before he could put a word in edgewise.


	7. Chapter 7

**Yes I realize that I made a mistake in the last chapter but let's just pretend that that's the way it is ;D hahaha! That's what I get for staying up so late to write these things. To be fair Leopoldo and Regina did have a summer palace and that is the one I had stuck in my head for whatever reason :) I do love to see that my readers know their Once Upon a Time ;) now as for this chapter it is my favourite so far and it is for so many different reasons :) as for David's phone let's just pretend that he wasn't stuck in time for twenty eight years and let's give him an iPhone! It's just easier that way. Enjoy! And sorry for the mistake!**

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The night was warm and they were both tired from their trek from the castle. It seemed there were no amount of words to convince Regina to just stay the night there rather than find a spot in the forest. He didn't know what had settled in her mind or what memories may have left her in such a stubborn mindset but she would not stay and he could only follow her when she stopped arguing and walked away toward the front gates of the castle.

So now they laid on their backs in a small clearing a good ways from the castle. Regina was already asleep using her suit jacket as a blanket of sorts while he simply kept his black leather jacket on as he laid beside her. Neither of them had brought up the kiss they almost shared and for that he was grateful. He didn't know what had possessed him to do such a thing. He was married to Snow and his mind and eyes should not be wandering over Regina.

With a frustrated sigh he straightened his neck and looked up at the stars, a smile forming on his face when he saw the dragon. He hadn't ever shown it to Snow. He didn't know why but he never did.

He shouldn't want Regina, he should have agreed with her earlier statement of him not wanting her. But he didn't. Firstly he did not like the way she had said it; like no one could ever want her because she was broken and worthless. Secondly he found the longer he thought on the topic the less reasons he had for not wanting her. It was infuriating and he couldn't help but feel guilty. For both Snow and Regina. And it had only been three days, only one and a half with her beginning to settle down. He didn't even want to know what was going to happen if she continued at that pace.

He was a little startled when he was jerked from his thoughts by something warm moving against him. He looked down to find Regina had rolled over on to her side in her sleep and had nuzzled herself in against him, her face still burying deeper in to the side of his chest in her sleep. He knew he should push her away, slip out of her sleepy hold on him, wake her even but he couldn't bring himself to do it. She was asleep, she was tired, it was an innocent movement, and he missed having someone to hold.

So he let her stay.

...

Regina quite enjoyed waking up being held. She ended up staying in his arms wide awake for a long time just moving her fingers up and down the metal track of his jacket's zipper before she slipped out unnoticed. She couldn't remember the last time she had slept so well or awoken so happily. Or with such hunger. Neither of them had seemed to notice that they hadn't eaten at all the day before except for a small snack the previous morning with Mulan and Aurora so now she was hunting.

She had found a stag but what the pair of them would do with that she didn't know so she let it be. At the sound of a soft thump behind her she spun around silently and let the arrow slip through her fingertips and in to the eye of a brown rabbit. She lowered her bow with a proud smirk and approving hum and walked toward her kill. With a slow nod she whispered quietly to herself, "not too shabby for twenty eight years."

She removed the arrow and cleaned it before putting it away and picking up the rabbit and walking back to where she had left David. The sound of footsteps behind her had her turning back around though and what she found had her smiling brilliantly and placing her game and weapons on the forest floor.

...

"Regina?" He called as he wandered through the trees. She could be anywhere and she had taken his bow which was something he didn't see a reason for her taking. He didn't imagine she knew how to use it. But then again she was a woman filled with surprises.

"Regina where the hell did you go?" He called again but got no answer. With frustrated mumbling he pushed through a few branches to find the bow, her suit jacket, her black heeled boots, and a dead rabbit placed in a neat pile. With a curious expression he crouched down and looked over the rabbit and began shaking his head with a quiet laugh when he saw the path the arrow had taken, "well I'll be damned."

With a quick note to himself to never cross her when she was armed with a bow he snapped his head up at the sound of laughter. It sounded to belong to her but he could not be certain for he had never heard her truly laugh before. Chuckle, cackle, a soft laugh under her breath, but never one filled with so much easy joy.

Leaving the neat pile behind him he followed the origin of the laughter and before he made it to the edge of the tree line he saw the beautiful brunette fly past him bareback with her arms outstretched as far as they could reach and her head dropped back in a rich laugh as a black unicorn carried her at a gallop through the tall grass of the meadow. The sleeves of her white button up shirt had been rolled up just beneath her elbows and she had left her pinstriped navy blue vest on over top but her feet had been left bare to feel the soft black coat of the unicorn and the cool green grass that she galloped through

With a shake of his head and a smile on his face he walked out in to the meadow and gave a loud whistle with his thumb and finger in his mouth. Regina looked over her shoulder at the sound with a laugh and then leaned forward and gave what looked like to be a few quiet words to the creature she sat upon but he couldn't be sure.

The unicorn skidded to a halt and lifted its front hooves off the ground to pivot on its hind end and picked up a gallop again only this time it was straight toward him. A few seconds later the pair had stopped in front of him, the unicorn with a snort and flared nostrils as it caught its breath and Regina laughing and panting on its back as she too filled her lungs, "what are you doing?" He smiled up at her and walked up to their sides.

"Riding," she laughed quietly through her short breath. She hadn't had this much fun in years. Decades.

David shook his head and placed his hand on the smooth black shoulder of the unicorn, "alright smart ass," she laughed with her, "I have a question for you."

"Go ahead."

"Can you charge a cell phone with your magic?"

Regina rolled her eyes and laughed, "seriously?!"

"I had a thought so bear with me," he smiled and she laughed and lifted her bare feet so they rested on the unicorn's withers while her hands fell back to support her weight on its back. With a quiet nod to continue he laughed under his breath and stole one last lingering look over her and continued, "Henry would have loved to see this place so I figure why not do a video log of sorts and take some pictures here and there so he can see. Not to mention it would let him see you in a different light and that certainly wouldn't hurt either. Plus I think it would be fun," he grinned and she began nodding as she mulled it over.

It wasn't a bad idea. Not at all and she found no faults and no harm really so she removed one hand from behind her and pushed it toward him, "alright give it here," she couldn't help but laugh quietly with him as he pulled out his phone and gave it to her. Playing with a gentle electricity she directed it into the phone and slowly increased its strength until she found a sweet spot and she watched the little battery start to fill on the screen.

With a proud smirk and a subtle rock of her head she handed him back the phone and he took it to find it fully charged, "very nice! So let's get this thing started while we still have this wonderful guest."

Starting a video he flipped it around so the camera was on his face and Regina could see the screen, "yeah?"

"Little to the left," when he moved it she nodded and smiled but when he opened his mouth and took a breath to speak she cut him off, "oh wait!"

"What?"

"I am assuming you are wanting both of us in the frame?"

"Yes."

"Well then you should turn it sideways so there's room," she smiled and he rolled his eyes and turned the phone sideways. She laughed and shook her head, "no now you have to start a new video or the picture will be sideways."

"Alright smarty pants! You take the phone!"

Regina laughed and dropped her legs back down on either side of the unicorn and sat up straight so she could take the phone, "we are going to have quite a blooper reel if you keep this up dear."

"Shut up."

She laughed and shook her head as she ended the video and started a new one, "alright now let's do this properly."

"Henry your mother is trouble," he laughed with her and folded his arms over his chest, "okay kid so we have decided to give you a bit of a tour of the Enchanted Forest on our way back to you all. So welcome to the first of many instalments directed by the one and only Prince Charming," he bowed playfully and Regina scoffed which caused him to laugh.

"So humble," she quipped with a smirk and tossed him the phone when he held out his hands.

"And the not so evil Evil Queen Regina aka your mother," he laughed and then stepped back a few strides so he could get the entire unicorn in as well and not just Regina's head and torso, "and today's guest is Regina's newly found friend...a black unicorn. I woke up this morning and found her galloping around on its back without a care in the world."

"'Her' not 'it' Charming."

"Sorry. Why don't you show Henry that you can have some fun? I don't think he's going to believe it unless he sees it," he teased and she put her hands on her hips and with another quiet word the unicorn began walking toward him.

"That all depends on your definition of fun Charming," she lowered her voice playfully as her mount stepped closer and David remained still and laughing.

When the unicorn was only a few steps in front of him she lifted her front hooves and stomped them hard on the ground right in front of his feet as though she was going to run him down and it had him leaping backwards with a startled, "whoa jeez!" Instead of continuing forward however she turned and carried a laughing Regina off at a full gallop with a toss of her head and Regina's hands in her thick black mane.

He laughed to himself and kept the camera on Regina as she sat effortlessly upon the bare back of the unicorn as she pranced and galloped through the tall green grass, "I think this unexpected trip will be good for her kid."

...

Regina slid off the side of the unicorn with a joyous smile that quickly turned in to the happiest of laughter when a colt trotted fearlessly up to her, "hello," she greeted happily and reached forward to touch his small face. He was just new, hadn't even grown a proper horn yet only a small nub on his forehead. He was black and untouched by any magic beside his own and his mother's and Regina wanted to see if she could change his colour.

David caught up and pulled his phone out once more and silently took a video from his hidden place just inside the tree line. Regina was slightly bent at the waist and a soft white glow was forming in her hands and then that glow lifted and floated toward the baby unicorn like a firefly. The black mare stood next to Regina with her ears perked and the colt nickered quietly and touched his muzzle to the white glow and after a bit of a pause the black coat of the foal began turning white.

He watched with an open smile and a quiet laugh as the black turned a bright white starting at his muzzle and slowly going down to his tail. Regina looked absolutely thrilled. Her hands were clasped together and brought up so her thumbs hovered over her wide smile. When the colt had changed entirely and he began to prance around, Regina followed suit and skipped happily with the foal, her bare toes padding silently over the forest floor as she laughed.

When her eyes found David standing on the sidelines and bounced up to him, any previous associations with him absolutely forgotten in her excitement, "David! I turned him white! Not black, not bay, not chestnut, not grey, but white!"

David laughed and ended the video so he could address her properly, the pure joy on her face just contagious, "you did. Why is that so great?"

"Because white is good, white is pure. Do you know why there are so few white unicorns? Because there are so few who have a heart good enough to do so," she grinned and laughed through her teeth as she bent a little at the waist but lifted her chin so her eyes remained on his. She quieted her voice but her excitement and joy was no less obvious, "I turned a unicorn white."

"Well I suppose congratulations are in order," he grinned and she bounced gently, simply vibrating she was so happy. It was a wonderful thing to see and he was fighting the very strong urge to pull her in to a kiss. He settled for a hand on her arm just below her shoulder and squeezed it as he rubbed his thumb over her arm, "how about freshly killed rabbit?"

A laugh vibrated in her throat and the smile never left, "sounds delicious."

...

"So," he settled back down after rotating the rabbit over the fire, "what did you give him that made him turn white?"

"A memory."

"A memory?"

"Mhm."

"Which one?"

"...a special one..."

David smiled at her answer and she smiled as well but bowed her head to look at her hands in her lap. She was such a different person it was hard to see the link between her and her fearsome alter ego.

Regina picked at the dirt as she thought. It wouldn't hurt really and she knew he had already heard the story, "would you like to see it?" She asked quietly and made herself lift her head to look him in the eye and found him to be smiling back at her.

"I would," he nodded once and her smile grew a little more and it made his heart skip. He wanted to know what memory she titled 'special' and what was pure enough to have a unicorn turn white.

He watched her hands form an identical white glow to the one she had given the unicorn and he lifted his hands and caught it and was quite suddenly thrown in to another place.

_Regina looked up at him with a smile, her heart warm and safe in the care of the man before her. When their eyes focused on the other's mouth and they started to lean in however they were interrupted._

_"Help!"_

_"Shhh someone's here," she pushed him away and they both turned to the sound of galloping hoofbeats._

_"Somebody help me!"_

_Without so much as a second thought Regina hurried to her horse and mounted her, urging her forward quickly after the young girl on her runaway steed. She trusted her mare so she had absolutely no fear for her own safety but she had more than enough for the girl hunched over hanging on for her life and screaming for help. "Come on Rocinante," she quietly urged her mare and she felt her push harder and gain more ground on the runaway bay the girl was on._

_"Help!"_

_"Give me your hand!" She called when Rocinante fell in stride with the second horse. Immediately the girl let go of her horse and reached for her hand and Regina pulled her off and over Rocinante's withers as the mare slowed to a halt and the girl slid off. Regina dismounted quickly and hurried over to help the girl to her feet, "it's okay dear you're safe."_

_The girl looked at the woman as she fussed over her, "you saved my life."_

_Regina took no credit for there was none that was needed. Anyone else would have done the same, "are you alright?" She watched with concern, bent slightly at the waist so she was at the girl's eye level as she checked herself for any injury._

_"Yes," she shook her head and glanced over behind the woman to her horse who stood close by, "but I'll never ride again."_

_Regina laughed under her breath and shook her head, "nonsense. The only way to over come fear is to face it. To get back on that horse as soon as possible," she smiled and the girl looked her straight in the eye._

_"Thank you."_

_"Regina," she gave the girl her name cheerfully and with a bright smile._

_"I'm Snow. Snow White."_

_Regina smiled and did not hesitate to welcome the girl in to her arms when she stepped forward and hugged her tight. When she pulled away Regina let her go, her smile still in place, "would you like to ride Rocinante? I assure you she will not run off," at the girl's hesitance to agree Regina stood tall once more and walked to her horse's side and began unbuckling the girth. "Come. I will ride with you this time and then next time you can ride alone once again."_

_"Without a saddle?"_

_"Well we can't very well both fit in my saddle now can we," she looked over her shoulder with a playful grin and Snow fidgeted nervously. Regina pulled the saddle off and placed it on the ground and offered the girl her hand, "do you trust me?"_

_Snow smiled a nervous smile and looked at the friendly mare behind Regina, "...yes."_

_"Come along then. I won't let you fall," she smiled and cocked her head and after another moment's pause Snow walked forward and took her hand, "good. Now Rocinante, dear, if you please," she smiled and bowed with one arm outstretched at her side. Regina laughed quietly when Snow started to laugh as Rocinante bowed down in return, "alright dear let's climb on."_

_"What about your saddle?"_

_"I'll come back for it later," Regina assured and climbed on behind Snow, "ready?"_

_"I suppose..."_

_Regina rubbed her hand over the girl's arm in an act of comfort and reassurance to ease her nervous tone, "you'll be perfectly alright dear. Trust Rocinante like you trust me and you will be twice as safe," she smiled and at the young girl's quiet and nervous laugh Regina clicked her tongue and Rocinante lifted herself back on to all four legs._

_"Just relax and lean against me, don't lean forward," she instructed with a smile and asked for a few steps of walk before she asked for a steady canter. Regina could only smile when the girl went tense but after a few strides she felt her start to relax and after a few more she heard her start to laugh and soon enough there was very little fear in the girl._

_Regina laughed quietly to herself and lowered her mouth so it was against Snow's ear, "let go dear," she encouraged quietly and she watched Snow's fingers slowly untangle from Rocinante's mane. With a laugh that started quiet and unsure but grew to be joyous and free, Snow lifted her hands from Rocinante's neck and slowly stretched them out on either side of her as far as she could reach._

_Snow laughed happily and excitedly as Rocinante carried them both steadily and easily, "thank you Regina."_

_Regina smiled as the girl continued to laugh with her arms outstretched as they cantered bareback, the girl's confidence firm and strong, "you are very welcome Snow White."_

What had felt like ten or fifteen minutes had proven to be merely seconds for Regina still sat before him and the rabbit remained uncooked and unchanged over the fire. He looked at Regina and she had her head down but her eyes had moved up and to the side to look up at him with that same smile.

It was an amazing experience to say the least and he could feel every emotion that Regina had felt at the time seeing as how it was her memory. He felt the carelessness for her own safety, the fear for Snow, the worry, and then the joy of the knowledge she was okay, the stubborn side of her that wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, the amusement, and finally the happiness. Happy with Daniel, happy with Rocinante, and happy with Snow. And now that same woman sat before him only she was miserable, hurt, and simply ruined. That young girl so full of joy and selflessness was ruined a long time ago. _But_ he had started to see her light up those dark eyes once again and while they were just mere fragments of that young woman, they were there.

And what a _good_ memory to have.

It was almost as though that young woman had given all of herself to Snow and left herself to rot. He knew that that wasn't the case but the two of them were very similar and only Regina suffered.

"I visit that memory quite often," she broke the silence with her soft but gently rasped voice. He was working through whatever was in his head after watching and feeling and while it started out joyous she could see he was following the path of her lifetime of destruction just as she always did after visiting that memory. His eyes flashed up to hers at the sound of her voice but she didn't hold his gaze for more than a few seconds before she dropped her eyes and continued, "I visit it for many reasons. Happiness, nostalgia, anger, sorrow," she paused and quirked her head ever so slightly and added a little more quietly, "regret..."

She remained quiet for a few moments and lifted her knees so her feet that had remained without her shoes laid flat on the forest floor and she played mindlessly with the hem of her navy blue trousers. She started talking again for she didn't want David to interrupt her train of thought, "I visited it today because I want to find that in myself again. I know I will never be that girl again but I would like to try," she smiled a small nervous smile and glanced up at him to find him smiling as well.

"I gave up on myself years ago and I never really knew how to...fix myself I suppose...so I sort of stopped trying. No one allowed me the chance anyway," she didn't see him move closer so when his hands rested on the sides of her bent knees her eyes snapped up and found his blue. He sat in front of her with one leg bent and laying across the ground creating a small barrier between them that her toes touched while his other leg laid straight and flat at her side. His eyes didn't falter and slowly he rested his chin on her knees and she gave him a small smile, a sad and defeated smile for she didn't truly believe she could find that young woman in her again, she believed she would fall again and that she would fall hard.

David smiled a small smile in return but his was filled with the hope and belief that she needed and he was willing to lend her, "I'd like to help you do that if you'd let me," her eyes had never had such focus. They were strong and hopeful, unable to truly trust his words but as he lifted his head from her knees and continued he watched those eyes begin to go glossy, "I know I tried to have you killed and all in the past but over the last couple days you've managed to change my mind. There is a good person under that evil queen, a good person that has perhaps just gotten hurt too many times. I am more than willing to stand at your side and help you be the person you want to be Regina because I have come to realize that you don't and never have wanted to be an evil queen," he finished gently and she shook her cocked head and whispered a barely audible 'no' as the first tear fell.

"Learn from one another?" He suggested quietly and moved his thumbs over the sides of her knees.

She smiled and nodded her head, allowing no more tears to fall despite them being pooled in her eyes, "yes," she had never had someone in her corner who was willing to help her be...her. They were always trying to mold her and push her and manipulate her, never did they _let_ her. They didn't let her love, they didn't let her be free, they didn't let her let her live, they didn't let her die, they didn't let her be anything but what they wanted and what they wanted was nothing but dark. That is not to say she did not carry a lot of the blame on herself. She blamed herself for many things and letting herself slip and be pushed into dark magic was a blame she carried heavily.

Perhaps this time would be different. Perhaps this one she would survive.

David smiled just a little brighter, the corners of his mouth lifting a fraction higher and he whispered, "good," he leaned in closer and she watched him with a silent gentle warning but when his lips connected with her cheek in a friendly gesture he heard her laugh quietly as she bowed her head once more. He pulled away with a smile but he stayed close. Very close. His nose nearly touching her cheek as they both laughed under their breath.

The effort it took not to catch her smiling mouth in a kiss was more than strenuous and he almost broke. It seemed kissing her in her stables had carried unseen consequences. He could not tell if those consequences were good or bad but the ache in his heart and the burning need in his chest were nearly overwhelming and they were only amplified when he was so close to the beautiful and struggling creature that was her.

He should not be falling for the once so evil queen. But he was.


	8. Chapter 8

**Mmmmm this chapter gets me every time! Ah but I love it :) And I just had to bring the term 'magic smoking' back! enjoy!**

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"Regina," he huffed in frustration as he stumbled over yet another log.

"Yes Charming?"

"I seem to recall you being able to magic smoke yourself from one place to another with little effort and very little time. So why," he pushed himself up over another fallen tree that she climbed up effortlessly despite her choice in footwear, "are we trudging through an overgrown forest again?"

"Because 'magic smoking', David, requires a fair bit of magic and with the skills my mother has I doubt she would have too much trouble following a magical signature such as my own in a land with a very limited amount of beings capable of using magic."

"So you're worried she has magic radar or something?" He laughed quietly but his suggestion was serious as he took her offered hand and allowed her to help him up.

Regina laughed and rolled her eyes at his comparison to technicality, "yes David I suppose it is like a magic radar of sorts," she leaned back a little to counteract his weight as she pulled him up and when they both stood straight they were close to one another once more, their bodies nearly touching. She felt his hesitance to let her hand go and it made her smile just a little.

She had to gently pull her hand from his grasp but she lifted it again so her fingers moved over the stubble that had grown on his jaw. With an approving nod and a smile she knew would drive him crazy she flicked her finger off from under his chin and leaned in a little closer just to play, "you look good with a little scruff."

As if his heart wasn't racing enough. Her raspy voice that was lowered to a near whisper that taunted him by dancing over his mouth and against his ear. He clenched and unclenched his jaw repetitively and found that despite closing his eyes the images that flew behind them were no less graphic. He was severely lacking in self control but with what restraint he had left he kept himself from pinning her against a tree and tearing her clothes off while he kissed her until she couldn't stand.

He was so close to grabbing her arm and pulling her in to him when she turned to leave but he mustered whatever control he had over himself and stayed put but allowed his eyes to open and watch her leave. He swore under his breath as he shook his head and rubbed his hands over his face with a deep breath to clear his mind.

Regina hummed a soft laugh and turned on her heels and continued on her way, lifting her chin a little with a smirk when a few moments later he decided to follow her again. "We should be able to get to the beanstalk tomorrow unless we come across any unexpected delays," she looked over her shoulder with an innocent smile on her closed lips.

...

"Hey kid! This is great! Watch this!" He laughed in to the video recording and placed the phone on Regina's shoulder only to have nothing happen, "oh Regina come on!"

Regina laughed and looked over her shoulder as they continued walking, "_you_ are a child."

"Come on it's funny! Do it again," he laughed and watched her eyes roll on the screen of his phone, "please?"

"Why?"

David leaned forward a little and smiled at her, "because I asked you too," she scoffed quietly and rolled her eyes again but the smile on her mouth was not well hidden. After an amused shake of her head he talked to the phone again, "alright kid let's try this again," he laughed quietly and placed the phone on her shoulder and listened to it chime to tell him it was charging, "yes! This is hilarious," he pulled it from her shoulder and then placed it on her arm only to have it chime again which caused him to laugh.

Regina shook her head and laughed with him as he walked around her touching the phone on different parts of her body as she continued walking forward, "my god you are easily amused."

"You are a walking and talking phone charger!" He laughed excitedly and placed it on her forearm, only laughing more when he heard the chime again, "it's awesome!"

"I am getting the impression that I could tie a long stick to your head and hang a doughnut from it and you would walk around for hours trying to get it," another chime was heard and quickly followed by more laughter that had her shaking her head.

"Doughnuts are good, I kinda miss doughnuts," he laughed and walked backwards in front of her as she walked forward with her lips pressed together to try and keep her smile from growing too wide. "Oh here's a question for you," he grinned and watched her eyebrows lift ever so slightly in an agreement to answer for the video, "have you always been able to cook? Because that lasagna I had at your house that night was fantastic."

Regina shook her head and laughed, "no, no I was not a good cook. I had a little boy tell me my lasagna was quite gross actually."

David laughed so his shoulders shook, "no! When!?"

"Twenty eight years ago when we first landed over there. Bought myself a few cookbooks after he left," she admitted with a smile and ran her tongue over her teeth as she shook her head, "I rarely use them anymore though-David!" She shouted and reached forward and grabbed his forearm in her hands effectively stopping him in his tracks.

He glanced over his shoulder and found himself to be roughly four feet from the edge of a cliff. He shot his head back to Regina to find her expression more than worried with a lot more than a hint of fear.

"I know you don't exactly like me but you don't need to jump off a cliff to get away from me," she let go of his arm and took a deep breath to shake her vibrating nerves and mere moments later she was looking up at him with a playful glint in her eye, "first it's rather insulting."

David laughed at her response as he shook off his own nerves, "well I didn't mean to offend you. Second?"

"Second...you scared me."

He smiled at her as she looked him in the eye and they held each other's gaze for a few moments before David grinned wildly and turned the phone so the camera was on himself, "I scared your mom."

"Oh give me that!" She lunged at him with a laugh and he played keep away, tossing it from hand to hand as they laughed. "Give it!" She jumped to try and reach it when he lifted it over his head with a arrogant grin, "David!"

"What?" He drew out the word with an innocent laugh as though he didn't know what he was doing to bother her.

"Oh so that's how you want to play?" She laughed and with impressive speed she removed her bow from around her torso and shot an arrow at his feet, kicking his legs out from underneath him when he lost his sturdy balance dodging the arrow that wouldn't have hit him in the first place. He landed with a hard thud and a pained laugh and she picked the phone up from the dirt with a low victorious chuckle and turned it so the camera was on herself, "as you can see we are getting along just fine," she smiled and her mouth opened a little when David pushed himself up in to a sitting position with a groan and gave her a thumbs up, "he's fine," she turned the phone around with a laugh and David shook his head with a laugh and pulled the arrow from the ground.

"Let me show you where we are going," she turned the phone around so it pointed to the beanstalk in the distance, easily seen from their viewpoint on top of the cliff, "we have to climb to the very top of that beanstalk and reason with a giant to have him give us a compass that will lead us back home," she turned the phone back around and tucked her chin in and smirked at the camera, "your brave Prince Charming is scared of heights and I assure you I will get that on video for you."

"Oh come on Regina! That's not fair!"

Regina laughed through her grin and blew a kiss at the camera, "love you Henry. We will see you soon enough."

Back on his feet again David moved inconspicuously to Regina's side and when she ended the video he took the phone from her hands, "picture?" He offered and she smiled a small smile and shrugged.

"Sure," a yelp mixed with laughter left her mouth when David pulled her in to him by her hip and her hands pushed against his chest in an attempt to get away from the stubble on his jaw that tickled her neck as he nuzzled his face in before kissing her cheek, "David!"

Her scent was wonderfully intoxicating and her laughter was contagious and he was rather disappointed when she managed to squirm free, "I had to make you smile," he laughed his excuse. It wasn't all a lie. Seeing her smile warmed his heart and hearing her laugh filled him with the strong desire to never let that sound fade. Never did he imagine he would react in such a way toward Regina.

...

David hummed quietly and happily as he laid on his back flipping through his phone but his eyes immediately found Regina when she returned from her scope.

"There is a waterfall a couple minutes that way," she pointed over her shoulder and she continued tiredly, "the water is clean. I filled the skin for us," she dropped the leather water canteen down on the ground next to their daggers and then followed by placing the bow and quiver in the same pile.

"Excellent."

"What are you doing?" She spoke quietly and lowered herself down to sit next to him.

"Nothing really. I like this picture," he smiled and offered her the phone and watched her tired expression soften in to quiet and happy admiration as she took it from him. He couldn't help but wonder what it would be like for her to see herself in such a happily amused state when all she saw in the mirror for most of her life was anger and misery.

He had managed to take a picture during their playful spat while she was laughing and trying to get away from him, her head bowed just slightly with her eyes shut and her nose a little scrunched as he kissed her cheek. A smile was clear on his face as well despite her hands pushing on his chest, her fingertips just making it into the frame of the picture. It brought a smile to her face and she kept her focus on the phone as she agreed in a quiet whisper, "I do too."

"And to think I almost had you killed," he smiled through his quiet words, seeing no reason to disturb the warm and quiet atmosphere they had created around them.

Regina smiled and hummed a single laugh as she kept her gaze on herself and David in the photo, "you were quite justified. But I'm glad it got interrupted."

David laughed quietly with his eyes enthralled in the soft appearance she had acquired. "You know what," he smiled and she turned her head to look at him, "me too."

"Thank you, David, for giving me another chance. It's a lot easier when there is only one person I have to focus on rather than...well everyone at once," she offered him a small smile as she handed him back his phone, "it means a lot more to me than you would think."

David hummed softly and looked at the picture once again, "well considering I thought I was merely expecting you to calm down a little I'd say it was another chance well given," he glanced up at her with a smile and then back down at his phone, "didn't think I'd actually get to see you. To be honest I didn't think you had this inside you. I believed Snow was chasing a shadow."

"So did I."

"We'll I'm glad we proved everybody wrong. Including ourselves," he smiled at her and she breathed out a quiet laugh.

"Me too."

"I mean look at that smile," he grinned at the phone and then turned it so she could see it again.

"I haven't seen that smile in too long," she whispered softly with a small smile at the photo, "thank you for bringing it back."

"You're welcome," He smiled back at her and put the phone in his pocket before turning his head asking, "why did you never kill me?"

"I never really had anything against you. You were a tool to hurt Snow."

"Really?" He replied doubtfully with his eyes squinted but she only shrugged, "you had nothing against me? The poor shepherd who was given the royal life?"

She shook her head slowly as she picked at the grass in front of her crossed legs, "the fact that you were a poor shepherd only had me loathing Snow all the more."

David watched her curiously with his brow furrowed slightly, "why?"

Regina hummed through a small smile that hinted at her displeasure but was more so drowning in intense sorrow and her slow and quiet voice reflected the same, "because _she_ got to love her poor shepherd and _she_ got her happy ending without so much as a second thought on social class while _my_ stable boy was killed and _I_ was thrown in to a life filled with misery and pain because all that mattered was power and status."

David sat up slowly, caught off guard by her incredibly emotional answer and as he sat up he found her hands to be shaking and her eyes filled will tears that had yet to fall. She was fighting herself and he cocked his head knowing that there was more and he watched her carefully when she broke and continued speaking in a small voice.

"She got everything that I lost, everything that I lost _because_ of her and I had to raise her and stand by and watch as she got absolutely _everything_," she whispered the last word slowly with a shake of her head and closed eyes, "and I _hate_ her for it."

Not once had he ever looked at her story like that, not once did he even think that there was more than Snow being blamed for Daniel's death that ruined Regina, not even over the past few days when she had let him see a different side of her did he come up with such a point of view. But now that he had it he felt heavy. He had seen and he had felt what kind of a person Regina was in the beginning and he had seen who she had become and he was seeing now who she was currently and with such insight he was able to put the pieces together with that important puzzle piece but it only caused his heart to throb and his throat to tighten.

"Maybe if I had had nothing then I would have been okay but I had less than nothing, I had Rumplestiltskin and a girl who drove me mad..." she clenched her jaw and shook her head in short quick movements as she tried her hardest to hold back a harsh sob, "and Leopold..."

The way she said his name twisted something inside him and he cringed as she left her mouth open as though she was at a loss for words as to what had happened between herself and Snow's father. He wasn't sure he wanted to know but his voice slipped out quietly before his mind registered it, "Leopold?"

Regina took a deep breath and shook her head, keeping her eyes open because she feared what she would see if she were to close them. She avoided David's gaze, she hadn't meant to fall this far, they had been talking about a picture of themselves and now she was drowning in a past she wished to forget. She didn't want to go this deep but she found despite how much she wanted to stop while she was more than ahead, her mouth wouldn't let her.

She had calmed herself down enough to speak but it was quiet, shaky, thick, and to her hands that laid limp in her lap, "to Rumple's credit he was very kind to me when it came to Leopold...very kind...there were many nights I would allow him to wipe away my tears and offer me soft kind words...he was the only one I had. I couldn't tell my father. I couldn't tell anyone but Rumple just...knew..."

David frowned and watched her hands lay unmoving, still not quite understanding what she had meant exactly, "I would like to see that," he asked gently, "if you would allow me to," he finished quietly and watched the tears pool in her eyes again as she left her stare on her hands. After a short while she pushed a soft white glow into her fingertips as she had done before and with a sad sniff she reluctantly let it leave her possession and he caught it gently in both hands.

_She walked back to her bedchambers with her head held high. There was no way she would allow herself to be seen otherwise but it was growing more difficult with every night the king asked for her. She focused on holding her head high and walking in a straight line with powerful strides, powerful strides that threatened to falter the closer she got to the door. As soon as those doors closed behind her however, her tears were falling._

_She leaned her back against the large wooden doors for a moment and let them fall silently. Taking a deep breath through her nose she tried to stand tall again but her knees gave out and she started crying instead. She was caught though before she hit the ground but that only made her cry harder and her hands fell over the ones that held her over her stomach as she closed her eyes and sobbed harshly but quietly._

_"Come on dearie," he whispered and helped her to her bed, "it will be alright."_

_She allowed him to help her to the bed with slow and painful steps, taking his offered hand to help steady herself as she continued to cry. He sat her down on the edge of the bed and crouched on the floor in front of her with a soft and gentle expression._

_"Where does it hurt?" He whispered kindly, his voice filled with concern._

_Regina shook her head slowly and whispered slowly in defeat, "does it matter?"_

_Rumplestiltskin frowned and lifted his hands so they hovered roughly an inch over her body, starting at her neck and feeling relief when he found no formation of bruising there as he had in the past. Magic flowed from his fingertips and healed any blemishes to the girl's body but there was nothing he could do about the emotional trauma, "you matter Regina."_

_"I only matter to you and even in your eyes I am nothing but a game piece," she replied with a painfully empty voice, "a more valuable piece in your game than in anyone else's but a game piece nonetheless."_

_He nodded slowly and let his hands linger over her abdomen to assure everything would heal before he moved to heal the new bruises on her hips, wrists, and thighs, "no one deserves this. You are still a person and you do not deserve this."_

_Regina laughed humorlessly under her sorrowful breath as her tears continued to fall, "treat a person as an object long enough and they'll start to believe it."_

_With a frown he finished with his magic and looked her in the eye to find the dark brown empty but not in the way he wanted, "that may be true," he spoke quietly and lifted his hands to carefully wipe the tears from her cheeks, "but I know you don't believe you are an object just yet. And you had better not forget what you are."_

_She nodded and closed her eyes, feeling his thumbs move over her cheeks gently to wipe away more fallen tears. She was exhausted and she was hurting._

_He shook his head in dismay when she started crying again, her figure shaking in time with the quiet whimpers and choked breath, "would you like me to help you sleep Regina?"_

_His soft kind voice pushed a harsh cry through her teeth as she tried to bury it back down. His thumbs moved once again to wipe away her tears and she pleaded helplessly with her eyes tightly closed, "please," she could not handle the nightmares, she had already tried._

_"Of course."_

_With one last shaky cry she felt her body become heavy and the vague feeling of him laying her limp body down before she fell completely into a dreamless sleep._

Regina nodded sadly and cocked her head ever so slightly when David came back from his momentary haze with tears in his eyes. She reached forward and wiped one away just as it fell and she knew he was hurting as he studied her with focused blue eyes and she whispered, "we are all merely human in the end."


	9. Chapter 9

**I really need to get my butt in gear and speed it up with the updates! Poor SLBP is being neglected. Soooooo close this time! So close! Hope you enjoy it :)**

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"I swear if she keeps wandering off in the morning I'm going to tie her to a god damn tree at night," he mumbled to himself under his breath irritably as he pushed through a wall of branches to find himself at the shore of a pool at the bottom of a waterfall. A waterfall with a very beautiful and very bare Regina underneath. The water level hit just below her navel so he saw nothing beneath her waist and her back was to him but he couldn't pull his eyes away from the way the muscles moved in her back and shoulders as she lifted her hands to run her fingers through short wet hair and tilt her head back so the falling water landed on her face.

His throat went dry and it only got worse when she pivoted to get under a heavier stream of falling water and unknowingly gave him a side view of her narrow and well toned body as well as breasts that were lifted slightly given her arms were still up and her hands still in her hair. He knew he should look away, run away really, but he was entranced by her and his heart thundered in his chest when her hands released her hair and she bowed her head down to run them over the back of her neck and enjoy the cool water falling on her neck before her hands moved over her shoulders and chest, soft delicate fingers lingering over her round breasts as chilled water dripped from fingertips and hardened nipples.

He tried to stop staring, he tried to pull his eyes away from her but he was enthralled. When her dark eyes shot up to meet his own his heart all but stopped beating. She had her head bowed slightly and turned so he could see her face, one hand was up on her chest just below her shoulder while the other had stopped in the process of moving up so it now rested just beneath one of her breasts. He was waiting to be scolded or for her to cover herself with her hands or turn her back to him but she simply smiled at him and closed her eyes and shook her head and from what he could tell she was laughing under her breath as she continued moving under the water just as she had been before.

Yet still he watched the clear water fall smoothly over her figure and drip from her top lip to her bottom lip when she parted them. She wasn't close to him but she wasn't too far, roughly sixty five feet, close enough for him to see her clearly and catch many details but not close enough for him to see them all. He cleared his throat and shook his head, forcing his feet to walk him backwards as Regina continued to move her hands over her body as though she didn't have an audience.

He stopped though, startled when his back collided with a tree and his paranoid mindset immediately believed it to be another person. With a tense breath he shook his head and closed his eyes to try and clear his mind and find it in him to walk away. Whatever motivation he had found to make himself leave was all lost again when he opened his eyes and watched the water fall smoothly over her strong shoulders and back as she moved her arms up so her hands were in her hair once again.

The black lingerie sitting neatly atop her folded clothing didn't exactly help his case either.

...

Regina found him back at their camp they had made for the night trying to make a fire to cook the already skinned and prepared rabbit skewered over the wood. "Enjoy the show Charming?" She teased and tossed a small fireball from her hand into the wood.

David stared at the fire and carelessly tossed his flint to the side to watch the wood burn, unable to look her in the eye, "...yes," he was met with a purr of a laugh from behind him.

"There is nothing to be ashamed of," she grinned and laughed quietly at his behaviour, "it's just a body David and you're only human."

"A beautiful and incredibly tempting body," now he was just kicking and swearing at himself, "I did not just say that out loud!"

Regina laughed quietly and nodded as she walked by him and patted his shoulder as he covered his face with his hands, "you did."

"Oh my god," he groaned in to his hands absolutely furious with himself.

"Relax. If you hadn't have stared I'd be worried about your sanity," she chuckled and shook her head as she sat down a friendly distance beside him and ran her fingers through her damp hair, "if the tables were turned I'm sure I would have watched as well," she nodded and when he lifted his head from his hands to finally look at her she shrugged playfully.

"I'll leave a note next time," she winked and grinned and he laughed quietly and shook his head, "maybe I'll find something hideous to wear for the rest of the trip," she teased and gave him a playful nudge with her shoulder.

"There is nothing that you could wear that could keep you from being one of the sexiest women alive."

Regina's smile grew impressively at the flattery and he only bowed his shaking head and rubbed his face, "well you are just on a roll today aren't you Charming," she laughed quietly and he groaned in to his hands, "that mouth of yours is going to get you in trouble dear."

"You have no idea," he mumbled in to his palms and when he finally brought himself to lift his head and look her in the eye he found her to still be laughing quietly at him. So he moved forward, turning on his hands and knees so his right hand held his weight on the ground by her hip and the other reached over her causing her to lean back on her hands to try and avoid the close proximity.

He kept moving closer and she kept moving backward but she was running out of room to run to. His blue eyes had pinpoint focus on her dark eyes and she found her heart rate begin to increase beyond her control as he kept getting closer. She soon found she wasn't breathing but for the life of her she couldn't find it in her to inhale. Then she ran out of room to escape to and his face was right over hers and her eyes flashed to his mouth for only a moment against her will. He stayed there for a moment before he grinned and his fingers plucked up an unknown object that he had been reaching for.

"Two can play at this game," he whispered teasingly against her mouth before he moved back up in to the place he was sitting in before but now had a dagger in his hand that had been behind Regina. He couldn't help but grin at the flustered expression on her face completed with wide eyes and slightly parted lips.

"Rude."

David laughed quietly as she cleared her throat and pushed herself back up with a dark and playful expression, "you'll manage I'm sure."

Her moment of girlish fluster over, she smirked at him and cocked her head with a thoughtful hum as she looked him up and down. She'd be lying if she said she didn't feel his overwhelming want for her when he was close. She had felt it more than once but she herself did not feel much in return until moments ago when he crawled over top of her. She didn't linger on it however because it would do her no good. She wasn't about to go after him and she was sure he would be able to stop himself from making a mistake and if he didn't she saw no reason for herself not being able to stop him instead.

She had to be good. Pursuing Prince Charming for a little fun and games was not good.

"Hey uh..." He paused as he fought for the right words and poked at the cooking rabbit with the tip of his dagger, "are you alright?"

Regina nodded and watched him poke the rabbit knowing that he was referring to the night before when she refused to let him touch her after sharing a particularly vulnerable memory, "yes," she answered quietly, "I'm fine."

"I had no idea..."

Regina smiled with her teeth showing white but it was a remarkably sorrowful smile and it did not reach her eyes that avoided his as she whispered, "no one did. No one does."

"...is that why you had him killed?"

"The main reason, yes..."

David nodded with a frown as he poked at the fire now, "if you don't mind me asking, how is it that Snow never knew?"

"I made certain she would never know. I took precaution to make sure she would never know what kind of a man Leopold was when there was no one looking."

"...why?"

Regina furrowed her brow and frowned at the question, her body starting to shake as tears started to pool in her eyes despite how much she wished them away, "because he was her father. She didn't have a mother, all she had was her father. I couldn't take her father from her."

If that wasn't a parallel Regina had unintentionally drawn between herself and Snow then David didn't know what was. No he did not know much but he knew from Snow that Regina's mother was anything but kind and he knew from personal experience that Regina's father was always at her side. No matter what she had done or was doing, that man stood by his daughter. All she had, it seemed, was her father and he was starting to realize now that throughout her life Regina was not nearly as selfish or cruel as she appeared to be.

She was selfless until selflessness broke her.

When he looked her way he could see she was trying not to cry in front of him once more so he offered her time because time was always taken from her. So time he offered, "I am going to go fill the water skin for us before we leave. I drank most of it when I got back this morning," he smiled a small smile but she didn't see it for her eyes were closed but she did give him a small nod. Before he stood up to leave he reached over and gave her hand a small squeeze, "I'll be back in a bit. Maybe I'll try to find some dinner for us for tonight. I may even get lost," he added and by the way her face creased with further attempts to keep herself under control informed him she understood the underlying meaning of his last comment. That she could take as much time as she needed.

"Thank you."

...

"Regina!"

She lifted her head to her name and started laughing under her breath when she caught sight of him running full speed toward her, "what? You disturb a hive of angry bees in your search for food?" She teased but without slowing down he snatched her wrist and pulled her to her feet and dragged her behind him, "David! What the hell?!"

Her questions were answered and many more were brought to mind to replace them when the screech of a dragon was heard above them paired with the sound of large wings moving through the air. She looked up and behind them as they ran and sure enough there was a dragon flying over head. A very, very big dragon, "trust you to find a dragon and make sure it's the biggest one!" She snapped angrily, "what the hell David?! You mistake it for an oversized squirrel?!"

"We were going after the same deer Regina! He scared the shit out of me when he fell from the sky and on to the stag! Apparently he wanted a little human meat on the side! And since when were dragons a problem in this part of the forest?!"

"Oh this is ridiculous!" She planted her feet and ripped her arm from his grasp and the dragon flew right past them because of their quick stop but it rolled in the air and came right back, "we are not about to outrun a fucking dragon!" When the fire was seen leaving the creature's mouth Regina lifted her hands and an invisible field was placed in front of her and David just before the heat licked their skin. When the stream of fire ended she dropped her hands and in turn the shield was gone as the dragon screeched loudly and flew past them only to turn back around and try again.

David stood off to the side with his muscles tense and ready to move as he watched Regina handle her magic and the left wing of the dragon broke repeatedly and as it broke in to smaller and smaller pieces Regina had formed it in to a ball which caused the dragon to shriek in pain as it spun out and hit the ground with a loud crash that shook the ground. Naturally he whipped out his phone and started taking a video.

The maimed dragon still had legs and it pushed itself to its feet and screeched at Regina, the woman taking one step back for every step it took forward. Her hands were out at her sides with purple magic just waiting to be used, she leaned forward slightly and grinned viciously through her parted teeth as she tried to catch her breath. She was so small, her full height not even close the length of the dragon's head and yet she showed no fear. "Hey Henry. How's it going kid? We uh we found a dragon," he panted and laughed under his short breath, "thought you may want to see it and uh you see your mom in action, that sorta thing."

He had never been so happy to see the evil queen in her. He didn't have a sword, he didn't have a shield, he had nothing, he only had Regina. His dagger and bow weren't going to do any damage to a dragon. He was ready to run and get her once more when the dragon opened its mouth to breathe fire but Regina was quicker and she moved her hands as though she was spinning a large wheel and the dragon's head unwillingly followed the motion and it's neck was snapped crudely and the beast collapsed. It was no longer a wonder why her kingdom was never plagued with dragons. He let his breath go and Regina let her offensive posture relax in to wariness but it was short lived at the sound of two more dragons.

Regina whirled around to face him with her arms moving in sharp angry movements, "what the hell were you doing out there?!"

"Why the hell is there more than one?! Dragons live alone!" He was met with a furious growl and he caught the dagger she threw at him and once it was in his hand it became significantly heavier for she had magicked it in to a full sized sword. She stormed off but then stopped and turned back around to point at the phone.

"Are you seriously taking a video right now?"

David laughed and shrugged because under her fury there was also amusement and more than a hint of excitement to show off, "what eleven year old boy doesn't want to see his bad ass mother battle a dragon or three?" She laughed in return with a shake of her head as she turned on her heels and focused on the dragon coming straight for her and himself.

She downed her dragon in no time at all and he had to jump to the side to barely avoid its spiked tail when it crashed to the ground and then try to regain his balance enough to move out of the way of the fire provided by the second dragon. He spun his sword in his hand in anticipation as his dragon rolled back and came at him again. This time he was quicker, "Regina!" He called and as she spun around he tossed the phone and she caught it with a laugh. As the dragon flew toward him he swung his sword with old unused strength and beheaded the beast as it flew by low causing its body to bounce and tumble over the forest floor.

"Good job Charming," she grinned and tossed him back the phone, "thought you may have lost your touch," she smirked but both of their laughs disappeared when the ground shook beneath their feet with large heavy footsteps running toward them. Quickly and efficiently she snatched the bow from around his body and plucked an arrow from the quiver on his back to shoot it through the eye of an ogre as it burst through the tree line with an angered roar.

"Oh yeah," he breathed out an adrenaline filled laugh at the sound of more running footsteps and another dragon in the sky, "your mom is also quite handy with a bow. Who knew!" When Regina snatched her needed arrows from the quiver he ran backwards to get the full ogre in the shot. The pair of them were having much more fun than they should be having.

He didn't flinch when she spun around and aimed her second arrow in his direction after killing the other. He almost found it odd he trusted her so easily and so fully with his life and as the arrow slipped from her fingertips and in to the eye of the ogre coming up behind him they both grinned and David skipped to the side to avoid the falling dead body. They were both reminded that their job wasn't done by the screech of the dragon in the sky.

Regina laughed up at the sky and flexed her fingers, "are you ready for the grand finale Charming!?" She called over to him and his expression filled with anticipation for something extravagant.

"You're never one to disappoint your majesty!" He grinned and assured she was in the frame of his phone and that it was still recording as she was slowly enveloped in purple smoke. A few short moments later he caught glimpse of a much larger eye peer through the smoke. It was her same dark chocolate brown but the pupil was now narrow. Like a lizard. He began to laugh and shake his head, "oh no way! Henry this is going to be spectacular!"

Just as he finished his sentence enormous black wings unfolded from the smoke and they were followed by a very elegant and feminine head and a long neck covered in smooth black scales. A low rumble vibrated in her throat, a laugh at a low frequency that vibrated in his chest and caused him to laugh as well. Black scales reflected the sunlight as she stretched her wings and lifted herself in to the sky with strong powerful movements, immediately catching the real dragon's attention and having it come hurdling toward her.

His phone followed her up in to the sky and he laughed in his own excitement as well as the image of Henry's when he was to watch this footage. Regina took the green dragon head on and viciously attacked it, claws and teeth ripping away as wings flapped to keep them both suspended. The dragon shrieked and fought back but Regina wouldn't let it touch her. She clawed at its belly with her hind legs and took its neck in her jaw while the claws of her front legs tore at its wings and fought off the front legs of the green drag as it shrieked and roared.

They were sent spiralling downward and while the green dragon flailed and fought to get away from Regina's grip, she simply folded her wings and let them fall. When they were roughly the height of a house from the ground Regina let go of the dragon, giving it an added push to slam the dragon's head hard in to the ground so the force followed up its neck effectively breaking it as she outstretched her wings to catch the air and slow her pace significantly before she landed on all fours.

David laughed as he ran up to her enormous dragon form holding her head up high upon her long arched neck as she gave her wings one last stretch before she folded them, "that! That was awesome!" He pushed his head back to look up at her while he laughed in adrenaline filled excitement.

"Breathe fire! Regina! You've got to breathe some fire for the camera!" He laughed and felt his chest vibrate as she laughed, like a bass turned up too loud. He could see the smoke start to lift from her nostrils and he found himself acting like a giddy schoolboy bouncing and laughing, "quit teasing!" He yelled up at her and could have sworn he saw her smile before she opened her mouth and released the fire burning deep in her belly.

He hollered in approval and jumped up, throwing his free fist in the air as the stream continued and he felt the heat radiate backward toward him. When the flame ended he watched a red forked tongue slip past her teeth and it made him laugh all the more and bounced up to her side to touch the scales on her leg and found them to be incredibly warm, "this is so cool," he laughed and crouched down to touch the sharp black claws digging in to the soil, his hand just big enough to wrap around the large claw.

"This is beyond impressive!" He laughed and stood up tall again to find she had lowered her head to his level, "your eye is almost as big as my head!" He motioned to her eye with both hands and then focused the camera on the familiar dark brown iris before it was obscured by purple smoke.

"I've never tried a dragon before," she laughed and shook out her arms and stretched her neck, "mice, cats, birds, smaller animals. Never a dragon."

"You turned in to a dragon!" He laughed and looked up at the sky, "and you took down another dragon in mid air! Don't tell me you are not excited about that!"

"I never said I wasn't," she grinned and tucked her chin. David ended the video with a laugh and pushed his phone back in his pocket which allowed for her to get more in depth, "David," she shook her head and laughed as he bent down and pulled at a dark green scale on the dragon's shoulder about the size of his palm. With a wave of her hand the scale came loose and he went stumbling backward with a laugh.

"For Henry," he lifted the scale and then put it in his back pocket, "magic is awesome!"

She shook her head once more and laughed but then began looking around, pivoting on one foot, "David this wasn't right. Four dragons and three ogres in the same place at the same time? It's not-" she stopped in her tracks and her voice ran silent when she met her mother's gaze across the clearing in the trees. Cora lifted her chin in acknowledgement and a smile graced her lips but Regina's heart continued with its hurried rhythm only now it was with fear rather than enjoyable thrill.

It was her mother that broke eye contact first and nodded to Regina's side toward David and it had Regina's breath catching in her chest and her head shaking slowly and subtly.

"It's not what?" He asked with a smile and turned around to find her staring at something and shaking her head, "Regina? What-" he turned his head to follow her gaze to find a large ball of fire speeding toward them.

He ran forward and pulled her to the ground with him, spinning them so he landed first to absorb the impact and she was on top of him before rolling and protecting her small self with his larger one. They stayed like that for a moment or so, her underneath him on her side with her legs curled and her hands and arms covering her head and him laying over her with his arms wrapped protectively over her head as well. When he heard nothing but silence he slowly lifted his head to find she had magicked them to a completely different area in the forest.

He let his arms move to support his weight on either side of her shoulders and she twisted at her waist so her legs remained curled on their side and her upper back and shoulders laid flat on the forest floor. She tried to steady her erratic breathing and she looked around for any further danger and he couldn't help but drop his gaze to her chest as it heaved to struggle for air. Laying down her shirt seemed lower and the swell of the tops of her breasts were more prominent, catching his eye immediately. The strained muscles of her neck distracted him further and he followed the sharp lines to her jaw and then to her parted red lips, her eyes had stopped darting around and now they were completely still and looking straight in to his own.

He was studying her and her heart thundered in her chest as warmth fluttered in her stomach, "what are you doing?"

David shook his head and moved his right hand to touch the soft skin of her neck, "I don't know," he watched his fingers move over her jaw and found himself slowly being reeled in closer and closer to her parted lips and dark eyes.

She didn't understand what was happening. They had only just become what some people may call friends and it was after years of hating one another and now he may just kiss her because now neither of them could push the other away. She suddenly wanted him to kiss her, she wanted to feel that roaring fire inside her again. So she remained still as he leaned further down with his own lips parted slightly. She was truly surprised by how much she loved feeling his weight on top of her and by how much heat he had caused to grow between her legs. His soft hot breath blew across her lips and jaw causing her heart to skip frantically in her chest. She didn't move, she didn't know what would happen if she did.

The sides of their noses touched and there was a moment of pause with their mouths just barely hovering. She got no closure. Instead he pulled away and got up off of her and hurried away leaving her flustered and breathless on her back.

She alternated between holding her breath and quietly and shakily gasping for air as she moved her hips so she now laid flat on her back and then raised one knee as she ran her hands over her face and in to her hair. Her heart was still pounding against her chest and the rush of excitement and anticipation was now bouncing around inside her with nowhere to go, "god damn it," she whispered and tried to catch her breath.


	10. Chapter 10

**So close so so so so close ;) I hope you guys enjoy it! SLBP should be updated soon as well :) **

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"Take your shirt off."

David turned around to find Regina walking toward him and he put his hands up, still not calmed down after nearly kissing her, "Regina I'm not-"

"David," she interrupted quietly and looked at his side and then up to his eyes once more, "please take your shirt off."

"Regina this is a bad idea I-" she resorted to walking up to him herself and he began backing away, "Regina-" his voice failed him entirely when her fingers hooked in the waist of his jeans to make him stop moving away. His breath was shallow as he dropped his head to watch her lift her left hand up to rest gently on his right side. He cringed and hissed at the contact, sharp pain shooting up and down his side and as she withdrew her hands he saw it to be coated in blood.

"Please," she tried again quietly, his eyes focused on her hand, "take your shirt off," after another moment's pause he obeyed and began trying to remove the layers of clothing from his torso starting with his leather jacket. It was hurting him though so she stepped forward to help him and gently hushed him when he tried to object.

He remained silent and tense as she moved her fingers down his front undoing the buttons of his dark shirt exposing the bare skin and hard muscle beneath. He was certain she could feel his breath hitch and his heart race as she moved so their fronts touched so she could reach behind his neck and take the collar of both leather jacket and button up shirt and begin pulling them down off his shoulders. His focus was on her face and she kept it down but when soft dark brown eyes were lifted to look him in the eye he could see the same desire in them that he was sure he had in his.

She was thinking about acting on it, he could tell when she parted her lips and her eyes dropped to look at his own mouth as her fingertips rested lightly on his bare chest. She shifted her weight subtly and he felt her breaths run short and far in between. He wanted her and he wanted her bad.

"Sit down," she whispered and cleared her throat gently as her heart pounded against its cage, "please," she didn't know what had happened to her, what he had done to get in her heart. Perhaps it was that he had repeatedly seen her vulnerable and didn't hurt her. Perhaps it was that he was kind to her when quite literally no one else was. Perhaps she just missed being touched and was greedy for more. She wouldn't kiss him. She wouldn't. She couldn't. He was dangerous.

He did as he was asked and lowered himself to sit back on his knees and she dropped down to straddle his lap and took the water skin hooked to his belt. "This may...sting a little," she glanced up at him before looking at the long and rather deep cut on his side, "and it will be a little cold," she added and poured the water slowly down his side, frowning when he hissed and flinched away from it momentarily. She caught the pouring water from his side in her other hand to bring it back up over the gash, "sorry," she whispered and cringed her face for him when she moved her thumb over the wound and he groaned through gritted teeth.

"There," she whispered and brought a long thin sliver up to his eye level, "couldn't very well heal you up with that in your side. It'd tear you up from the inside out."

David took it gently between his thumb and pointer finger, "what is it?"

"A sliver from a spike on a dragon's tail," she answered and brought a soft purple glow to her hand and watched his wound heal carefully, "it happens more often than you would think. Many knights just live with the pain without knowing that it can be fixed, others get infected and they die if it isn't treated. It seems dragons just like to make sure you have a little reminder of them. You're lucky it only grazed you."

"I thought I dodged it..." He whispered as he spun it and studied it.

"Adrenaline is a wonderful distraction."

He nodded in agreement and began to relax when he felt the pain disappear from his side, "how did you know it was there?"

"I didn't," she whispered and gave his side one last look to assure there was no scarring before she sat up straight again, "but I thought I'd better check," her eyes dropped to his mouth again and she smiled a small, reluctant, and nervous smile when his hands slowly moved up to hold her waist, the sliver discarded on the forest floor. "David," she breathed out in a slow whisper, unable to move away despite every fibre in her body screaming at her to run, "I'm not strong enough," she shook her head, her eyes still focused on his mouth, "to say no."

He nodded slowly and brought a hand up so the backs of his fingers gently caressed her jaw and cheekbone. Starved of love and affection, how could she say no, "then I will," he whispered and felt her relax a little further as her breath came back to her. It was wrong. Prince Charming and the Evil Queen, they were wrong. However before he let her go he moved in so his mouth was against her ear and whispered slowly, holding back a wide grin when her breath was lost once more, "I don't want to though."

...

"David my mother found us but I am not exactly certain if that means she knows where we are going. We need to get to that beanstalk and I don't think we can afford another trek. Well we could but we need a uh...escape plan."

"Your mother? When?!"

Regina waved her hand around in the air in a randomly chosen direction, "with the dragons and the ogres. She brought them there for us as a sort of test I would imagine to see what she is dealing with; how strong we are."

"You say these things like they're common knowledge and while I do appreciate you talking to me like I am at the same level of intelligence as you, I have recently discovered that I am so not," he laughed quietly and shook his head, "please take it easy on me."

Regina hummed softly through a smile and turned to face him, finding it hard to look him in the eye after the morning they had had, "I don't know what my mother wants with me but she wants me and I do not trust the result would be beneficial to either of us."

"Why? I mean I know that she's crazy and psychopathic, no offense," he received an indifferent shrug from her and continued, "but why is it that you are wanting to take such extreme measures to stay away from her?"

"Because she is my weakness. For many reasons she is such and I do not want to be close to her. She will break me and there is nothing I can do to stop her."

"Nothing?" He raised an eyebrow and she shook her head.

"I resorted to sending a man to kill her in a world I banished her to and she is still alive and well following us around the Enchanted Forest David. So no there is nothing."

"Stubbornness runs in the family," he teased and found the smile beneath her scowl, "so the escape plan then? Oh and isn't there an enchantment or something on the beanstalk?"

"I think you're more clever than you give yourself credit for," she allowed a smile to curl her lips as she watched him swell with a little more self confidence at her comment. "Yes there is an enchantment on the beanstalk and I'm trying to create one that will counteract it for us. I'll figure it out but we actually need to get to the beanstalk."

"Okay and the escape plan is what?"

He smiled at her and she smiled back because of the trust he was showing her and the eagerness to learn and work with her. She pulled her dagger out and dropped down on her knees and began drawing in the soil, "I don't want to use magic if I don't have to but if it's needed I can take several objects or life forms and scatter them around the forest while I, as you have so titled it, magic smoke us to the beanstalk."

"Making it more difficult for Cora to pinpoint which dot is us on her magic radar," he smiled at the simple map between his and Regina's knees as she finished drawing several little x's.

"Exactly," she laughed quietly and shook her head.

"Can you pull it off?"

"It'll take a lot of accuracy and organization but yes I do believe I'll be able to pull it off."

"What if you just turned into a dragon again and flew us around instead?" He grinned and she shook her head at the ground with a quiet and amused laugh.

"Because it's tiring," she smiled and lifted her head and darkened her tone with a playful cock of her head, "and I am not your pet," she moved back so she was sitting straight instead of holding her weight on one hand so she was leaning over the map because that was all she could do to avoid getting close to him again, "besides aren't you scared of heights? I mean we could always try the dragon thing. I'll even throw a few barrel rolls in there for you," she smirked and he laughed at her.

"No! Scratch the dragon idea then if you're going to be like that!"

Regina laughed with him and leaned forward as she did, regretting the movement almost instantly because she found she lost her footing and her mind went wild. What would it feel like to kiss him? To have his stubble gently scratch her neck? Rough calloused hands holding her against him, giving her no means of escape as he grazed his teeth over her skin, his hot breath skimming her jaw. Hard muscle moving against her own lithe body with each of their anxious breaths, his fingers moving over her, toying with her, sliding inside her, making her moan and scream as she arched her back off the ground and in to him.

"Regina."

"Yes! What?" She took in a sharp breath and let the glaze quickly slip from her eyes but could not hide the remaining lust in her startled voice

David smirked and caught the way she swallowed nervously and watched him with wide and caught eyes, "whatcha thinking about?"

"Nothing."

"Looked like a whole lot more than nothing," he grinned and she continued to struggle to regain her composure after slipping in to whatever lustful daydream she had succumbed to.

Regina shook her head finding it in her to actually move and blink away the images that lingered, "it was nothing."

"If I'm not mistaken I'd say you were thinking about kissing me," he pushed quietly with a grin.

"...no..."

"Yes," he whispered and leaned a little closer, his gaze caught by her chest as it rose and fell with short and uneven breaths, "I want you," the words slipped out before he could stop them and he found his heartbeat to begin racing when her already short breath caught in her throat and she opened her mouth to try and find words only to fail and close her mouth for a moment before trying once more.

"This is a bad idea," she managed a soft whisper with her gaze focused on his parted lips.

"Bad ideas are the best ideas."

"How so?"

David's mouth twisted into a smile as he answered in a whisper, not entirely certain as to how he had gotten so close to her, "they make the best stories," her eyes flicked down to his mouth once more, her lips parted as she shivered through a shallow breath at his words. He moved even closer, feeling no air come from her lips for she held it only to let it go when his mouth found her neck.

"Shit," she gasped quietly, her breaths rough and shallow as she involuntarily moved closer to him. She arched her back in to him as she turned her head against his, her mouth open and looking for his as his stubble had her body tingling with excitement. His mouth was hot and his tongue was quick causing her to moan softly as he crawled forward, slowly pushing her backward on to her back.

Another gasp was pushed from her and had her pushing herself closer to him when his teeth took hold of the corner of her jaw. She tasted sweet and the way she was responding to him was sending him on a high. He wanted more. He wanted to feel her mouth move against his own, he wanted to taste more of her and judging by the way she brought one hand up and began pulling him down by his shirt as the other arm braced her weight behind her, she wanted the same.

Lifting one hand from the ground and moving it to hold her waist he pulled back from her neck and went in search of her mouth, following the sharp heavy breaths skimming hotly across his jaw. He felt the pull on his shirt grow harder so he obeyed and lowered down closer to her, their noses just touching.

"Oh my!" She started and laughed as she blinked quickly and repetitively as the pair jumped up and away from one another, "now that is something I was not expecting to see."

Regina wasted no time. She spun around quickly, dragging her foot over the map she had drawn showing their destination as the beanstalk and as she finished her circle she pushed her hands forward sending a strong wave of magic from them. It threw Cora backward and quickly Regina pulled all three of them in to purple smoke as well as a deer, a squirrel, a bird, and a fox.

Cora landed roughly, catching herself with her hands as she laughed off her frustration through her teeth, "that was new," she grumbled and pushed herself back on her feet. "Oh you clever _clever_ girl," she laughed irritably but there was also a flicker of pride in the fact that Regina was able to best her. She had absolutely no idea where she was, she had never been to this area of the forest Regina had sent her to and she had no idea which one of the five signatures in the area was actually her daughter. She had a long trip ahead of her. Long and unexpectedly frustrating.

...

David stumbled a bit as they reappeared from the smoke as he was stumbling before he was taken because of the starling sensation of whatever Regina had produced to throw Cora. He looked around to find themselves somewhere else in the forest and not at the beanstalk as he had assumed she had wanted to take them given her plan beforehand, "where are we?"

"I don't know just give me a minute," she closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she walked away from him.

"I thought-"

"Shut up!" She spun around to face him, "my nerves are a little fried just give me a minute," she looked him up and down and he smiled smugly at her, understanding that half of the reason for their misdirection was caused by him and his kiss. She wanted it back, she wanted his hands on her, she wanted him on top of her, she wanted his mouth on her, she wanted his stubble scratching her skin, she wanted him to tear her clothes of as she did his, "from now on we stay at least six feet apart from each other."

"Agreed," he nodded once and she took a deep breath as she ran her fingers through her hair. There was no hesitance in his response because he knew it was for the best despite his mind's desire for other things. He didn't believe this agreement of theirs was going to last very long at all.

"This way," she directed quietly and began walking, listening when he waited a few seconds before following her just so the distance between them would increase.


	11. Chapter 11

**Tension, tensiiioooon, teeeeensiiiooooooon, teeensioo-whoops...snapped it ;) oh well. I think I've kept you all waiting long enough! Enjoy!**

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It was dusk, the lowering sun was just starting to colour the sky with vibrant pinks and oranges that played in Regina's dark hair. She was talking as she walked just ahead of him but he wasn't really listening. He didn't know what had gotten in to him during this trip, what had possessed him with the need to kiss her, the burning desire to just devour her. She wasn't even doing anything, she was simply walking a few strides ahead of him and talking but she had his heart absolutely racing in his chest and his tongue moving over his lips in anticipation.

He had tried for the past few days to convince himself that he didn't have any developing feelings for her and that it was just simply the boyish desire to have sex with anything that moved but he knew that that wasn't true. The fact that she had flat out told him that she did not have the will to push him away if he did go after her was not at all helping his case. She told him she wasn't strong enough and he was running low on that same strength. Proven by the fact that only hours ago he was kissing her neck and ready to rip her clothes off.

She was a beautiful person and not only on the outside. He had been given the chance to see what was truly beneath that harsh and vicious front and what he found was most surprising. He assumed she wasn't truly as evil as she appeared to be but to discover that she was actually a very kind and gentle person was astounding. It was no wonder Snow had tried so hard to get her back and had given her so many chances to do so.

Snow. He was married how could he even be considering Regina in such a lustful manner. Regina pushed a branch to the side for him and looked down at his feet over her shoulder as she spoke, likely telling him to watch his step but he could only watch her as the lowering sun burst through the tree line from the small clearing they were stepping into and the colours that warmed her skin and painted the shine of her hair. He still had absolutely no idea what she was saying but a smile gentled her expression when he took the branch from her hold and she continued forward. That was how he forgot to remember about Snow.

He was paying absolutely no attention to her and what was filling his mind was not known to her but she had her suspicions and she thought she would see how deep in to thought he really was, "I find it quite interesting how the grass here has tiny little mouths that eat your toes and the leaves are so purple that they could fly away," the fact that he said nothing in response had her laughing quietly, "I also believe that the horses in this land have wheels on the bottoms of their hooves and that when you are kind to them their coats turn a lovely shade of...orange."

She glanced over her shoulder to find him staring right at her but still did not address her nonsense. So she laughed under her breath and straightened her neck as she shook her head and continued on their path across the small clearing. She opened her mouth to continue with her game but a startled gasp made it out instead when his hand snatched her wrist and yanked her in to him consequently spinning her so her front was pressed hard against his. His hands had moved to catch her head and pull it up to his own before she had even caught her balance.

His kiss was demanding and he had opened her mouth with his before she had the time to comprehend what was happening. Her hands that had been up at her sides so as not to touch him despite her body having already been pressed against his had moved up to grip in his hair to pull him down and herself up as her knees gave out. Warmth fluttered in her chest and tightened her stomach as she opened her mouth for air and then kissed him hard, her teeth catching his bottom lip and letting it slip through before he pulled her head in even closer with his hands in her hair. He was doing all the right things to have her doing absolutely anything he wanted.

It was so good. She felt so _good_. He kissed her harder, pushing her head back but pulling her back close with his hands tangled in soft dark hair. She rose higher, likely on to her toes and wrapped her arms around his head so he couldn't get away when she swivelled her head to change her angle and kiss him harder. They were both breathing heavily, their chests pressing closer together with every breath and their hands frantically pulling each other impossibly closer. He had never gotten this worked up over a kiss. He had never kissed like this however. Never with so much passion and fierce hunger and desire. It was fantastic.

He removed his hands from her hair and her breath hitched when he moved them between their bodies and began to undo the buttons of her vest and shirt. His hands were warm and large and got her heart racing all the more while her breaths became harder to get. Without breaking the kiss she unwrapped her arms from around his head and neck and began working at the buttons holding his shirt closed and once it was undone she reached up and pulled his leather jacket and shirt from his shoulders. He let go of her to let the clothing fall to the ground only once all the buttons were open on her shirt and it was untucked from her trousers, breaking for air as he did.

Before he could pull her back in to him and kiss her again her hands were tugging at his belt all the while his eyes focused on the skin now showing down the middle of her chest and stomach, her breasts were held by a black satiny bra. He had seen her bare under the waterfall already but the anticipation of having her pressed against him, soft breasts and lean muscle against hard and chiseled muscle, was driving him mad. He was already hard at the very idea of it and going off of the way Regina ground her hips against him with a soft moan, she could tell.

With his belt tossed away and the button and zipper open on his jeans he quickly and impatiently lowered his head so his mouth crashed against her own in a continuation of their heated kiss. He pulled the clothing from her arms as she shrugged out of it and once it hit the ground her hands were back on either side of his head and pulling him down harder against her open mouth. Quickly his fingers unclasped her bra and she once again let go of him and she tossed the garment to the side before pressing hard up against him.

He moaned quietly in to her mouth as he let his hands wander heavily over her soft skin, his thumbs moving over the sides of her breasts that were pressed hard against his chest and pressed harder with every breath they took. She felt his grip tighten around her ribcage and as he began to lift her she jumped up gracefully and wrapped her legs around his waist tight enough so she wouldn't slip. She was taller than him now so she had to bend down a little and tilt his head up to kiss him and her breasts were no longer pressed against him but were left to cool in the air. That was until he broke their kiss and lowered his attention to her chest, darting his hot tongue out in the valley between her breasts and following through with a kiss. His stubble on his jaw moving across the soft skin of her chest had wonderful shivers racing down her spine and up her neck causing her to push herself closer to the fantastic combination of rough stubble and a hot mouth.

She rolled her head back slightly with a soft moan, her hands on the nape of his neck as he covered her chest in hot kisses and grazing nips. A sharp bite to the top of her breast earned him a pleasured hiss that was followed by a whimpering moan when he soothed it with his tongue and left the cool air to chill the wet skin. Testing her strength and his balance he loosened his grip around her ribs and found that she stayed put with nothing more than a little increase of pressure around his middle with her legs and therefore he had the use of his hands.

Keeping his left on her side and moving it up so his thumb was under her breast he gave her some support while his right kneaded the other and he kept his mouth playing with the hardened nipple. Her breathing was unsteady with arousal, her inhales short than her exhales and her moans vibrating quietly in her throat that had him aching for more.

Carefully he lowered them down to the grass covered ground so he was on his knees and she was straddling his lap and pulling his head to her own to meet her in a breathless kiss. Any and every figment of the memory of being married to Snow was lost entirely and his full focus was on the stunning brunette slowly grinding down on his aching erection bulging his jeans as she kissed him until he was gasping for air. She pushed him down on his back, the long grass cool against his body that had grown rather warm at Regina's touch.

His hands roamed over her back, thoroughly enjoying the feel of strong muscles and shoulder blades move as she lowered herself down further. "So much for that six feet rule," he whispered against her mouth and kissed her neck before she slid too far down and her throat vibrated wonderfully against his mouth as a low and rich laughter left her lips and she continued on her way to his open jeans with clever fingers.

"Oops," she shrugged and grinned as she looked up at him under thick dark lashes and left a soft kiss on his stomach as her fingers hooked in to the waist of his jeans and briefs and started pulling them down as he laughed quietly at her response.

With the rest of his clothing kicked to the side she took his length in her hand and began moving up and down in varying speeds. When her mouth closed around him he groaned and cursed under his heavy breath and a few moments later he was sitting up and pulling Regina up to him once again. He could feel the grin on her mouth as he kissed her and she continued with her hand uninterrupted despite the added distraction of his kiss. He wanted more. His hands moved down between them and worked open the clasp holding her trousers closed and keeping him from the rest of her.

Regrettably he had to let go of her and she of him to quickly remove her remaining clothing but she was back on top of him as soon as she left him. He obeyed when she pushed him down, her hot breath moving against his jaw as her hands pressed against his stomach. When his back was flat against the cool grass he moved his hands heavily over her body, his right moving down between her legs only to slide easily with how wet she had gotten. A soft moan left her parted lips as she dragged them over his jaw, leaving a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth before continuing with her teasing.

He pushed himself inside her slowly, absolutely revelling in the way her fingernails dug in to his sides as she breathed out a quiet whimper and began rocking her hips. He thrusted to match her movements, pleasure flowing through his body and causing his heart to race and his fingers to grip her thighs tighter. He sped up their slow pace just to hear her shallow gasps and whimpers grow to moans and louder vocals that he happily absorbed when he lifted his head from the ground to kiss her.

Not wanting to have her finish too fast and instead wanting to take his time with her, he slowed his pace once more and grinned at the frustrated and aroused huff that came from her lungs as he let the built up pleasure fade only to bring it back slowly. He rolled them over so they laid on their sides. He laid on one of her legs while the other was bent and lifted so it rested just above his hip and one of his arms held her close at the small of her back and the other wrapped around her shoulder blades as she allowed her head to loll back in an open invitation for his mouth against her neck.

When the desire to fuck her senseless changed in to taking his time and making love to her he did not know and he did not want to linger on the topic for the sole reason that it rather scared him. But he did not change anything, he continued slow and steady, moving his hand from the small of her back up to her breast and began kneading the soft flesh while he enjoyed her neck.

Her fingers gripped his bicep while the other arm curled around behind him and she clawed at his back whenever he threatened to push her over. His steady thrusts had her orgasm slowly building and she wanted nothing more than for him to end this sweet torture but she did not put up a fight, only arched her back in to him with a louder moan when his hot mouth and breathed moved down to her breasts. It had been a long time since a man was able to coax her to give up the control and power she always used during sex and he had done it with very little effort at all. It was effectively sending her on a high that added to every one of his movements inside of her and over her.

"David," she whimpered and a strangled moan left her open mouth as she squirmed, grinding her hips down against him and pushing her chest harder in to his hand and mouth, searching for any means of relief from the aching bliss that was building up inside her and beginning to spread throughout her entire body. He did nothing but breathe harder against her and take a handful of her hair and gently turn her head so he could get at the corner of her jaw and if she were to open her eyes she would be looking at the sky. It was driving her mad in the best way and she payed close and hopeful attention to the hand that left her chest and journeyed downwards but was left wonderfully frustrated when his fingertips merely drew soft patterns over her thigh.

He clenched his jaw and groaned in pleasure as he kept himself going and then left a sharp bite on her collarbone that had her gasping and shivering fantastically. She lifted her head and moaned quietly as she watched his mouth close over her breast and felt his tongue flick over the delicate skin. His thrusts grew less steady and a little faster as he grew closer to his climax with her and soon his hand left her thigh and was in her hair pulling her head up to meet him in a bruising kiss.

Her body quivered and moments later she broke the kiss abruptly with a small scream as she pressed herself right against him, her fingernails digging in to his arm and back and her leg hugging his waist tighter as choked screams shook her while she rode out her orgasm. "Fuck," he growled a whisper against her neck as he came inside her and wound his arm tighter around her shoulders and clenched his hand tighter in her hair. He panted against her neck as he slowed his pace to a halt, accepting her clumsy kiss and reciprocating in kind as they both aimed for catching their breath all the while taking it away with every movement of their kiss.

...

He was laying on his side, his head propped up with his hand and his elbow in the tall green grass as he watched her pull her pants back on with a swivel of her hips that had him groaning quietly and then with a smile, "do that again."

Regina looked down at him under thick dark lashes and grinned. With the clasp and zipper of her navy blue trousers left open to show the black lace of her panties Regina moved her hands over her body and up in to her hair as she slowly rolled her hips while she pivoted and moved in a small circle.

David watched with a grin as she moved, the buttons of her white shirt were left open to reveal the lean muscles of her stomach as they moved as well as the valley between her rounded breasts that were kept unrestrained by the black bra still tossed in the grass somewhere. She was bolder than Snow, leaner as well. Her muscles were well toned unlike Snow who was simply naturally thin but did not carry the same definition. He felt awful for comparing but he couldn't help but do so. Snow would not have given him a show as Regina was doing for him now and he absolutely loved that she was.

After a full circle she paused to see if he wanted her to continue and he was tempted to make her continue. Perhaps one more circle. With a subtle nod of his head she continued with a quiet laugh. It made him smile all the more that she offered to continue and he felt that hunger for her to be close start to burn in his gut once more. He was happy to see that she had made her circle spiral slowly toward him and he pushed himself in to a sitting position and took her rolling hips in his hands when she was close enough.

A soft chuckle vibrated in her throat as she gave her hips one final sway in his hands, that chuckle fading in to a slow exhale as she brought her bottom lip between her teeth and smiled when he pulled her hips closer and kissed her along the waistline of her black lace panties and then slowly moved higher. His lips dragged over her skin between kisses and his hot breath caused her shivers to shoot up and down her spine and her smile to grow wider with a certain playfulness that hadn't made an appearance in her in a long time.

Slowly she lowered herself down on to her knees so she straddled his lap, his hands loosening around her sides only enough to allow her to do so but tight enough for her open shirt to gather around his hands. His mouth was on her stomach and then her chest and she tilted her head to the side with a smile as he slowly moved to her neck and she moved her hands from her hair to hold his forearms. A soft and quiet chuckle vibrated in her throat when she felt his teeth graze her neck and bite almost a little too firmly at her delicate skin.

She had a sneaking suspicion that he was not this rough with his wife. The thought had her just grinning and when his mouth left her neck and went searching for her mouth she turned her head and hovered over his mouth, denying every attempt of his to catch her mouth with his. She wanted to see how much she could get out of him so every time he moved forward she moved backward or to the side to avoid him with a playful and taunting grin.

She was playing with him and it had him grinning in return and when she moved in closer he awaited the fiery contact of her soft lips. He waited with parted lips but instead of her mouth against his he felt a flick of the tip of her tongue over his bottom lip but when he moved to catch her before she got too far she had already tucked her chin in to escape him, a low toying laugh leaving her grin.

"Tease," he whispered against her, his voice much thicker than he had previously thought. He was met with another low laugh and he pulled her in closer by her waist so their bodies were pressed tightly together. He did not miss the way her breathing grew a little heavier at the contact and he grinned at the quiet hum she purred as she moved in closer so their noses brushed. Her kiss was not one he was expecting and if he had been standing he likely would have stumbled.

Her hands slowly moved up so her fingers tangled in his hair but she did not pull him to her. Instead she moved in, slowly until the last little stretch when she closed it quickly and pushed his head back hard in to her hands. Her strong arms allowed for no movement of his head so he stayed in place as her bruising kiss deepened further and her smooth tongue moved firmly with his. A rather loud moan was absorbed by her mouth as his fingers gripped tighter around her rib cage and pulled her impossibly closer and he simply fell in to submission. She continued her kiss fiercely and he contributed as much as he could but she didn't allow for much on his part and she allowed for even less when her teeth nipped and pulled roughly at his lips during and short breaks for air.

She kept going because she absolutely loved how he was reacting to it, melting in to putty in her hands. With every swipe of her tongue or hard nip of her teeth she was rewarded with a moan or a tighter hold around her ribs and when she did something he really liked she would feel him push himself closer to her. With her hands still keeping his head firmly in place she pushed her mouth harder against his and swivelled her head to test if she could break him again, she could already feel he had grown hard once more.

He didn't at all disappoint. With the both of them caught in lust with a silent agreement to forget everything else until the morning, Regina found herself flat on her back grinning with a panting Charming on top of her and holding her down.

Her eyes were lit up fantastically and her grin was playful and full of the knowledge of what she was doing to him, "_fuck_, Regina," he whispered under his heavy breath and she started to laugh quietly, taking his comment as a compliment. As she should. He started shaking his head at her as she moved her head deeper in to the grass but as she moved her leg up between both of his the head shaking stopped and with another moan he dropped his head down and caught her mouth in another fierce kiss that had his head spinning and his heart ready to pound out of his chest.

"I'm starting to think I should have kissed you after dinner at your house," he whispered through a voice thickened with lust. He was met with a quiet chuckle and fingernails digging in to the back of his neck.

"Better late than never."


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry about the wait you guys! I've just been being lazy ;) I hope you enjoy it!**

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He woke up slow, enjoying the way the early morning sun warmed his skin. When he opened his eyes he was warmed from the inside with a special sensation that could only be called...adoration...not love. No...no not love. But perhaps...no not love. He pushed the ridiculous idea to the side and allowed himself to forget everything just as he did the night before. He could remember later.

She laid close to him on her side so she was facing him. Her head rested on his right arm while her left hand was slipped beneath his arm and her right rested over it, sleepily holding him in place. One leg was against his while the other was gently bent so it could tangle between his comfortably. So soft and gentle she appeared to be in her sleep.

A smile had already formed on his face without his knowledge and when he slid his left hand up it grew all the wider. His hand slid over soft chilled skin rather that expensive fabric and upon closer inspection he found his hand to be underneath her shirt that she had left unbuttoned during the night. He found himself to be wearing similar attire; jeans and his buttoned shirt left open to the cool night air as well.

Gently and slowly he pulled her closer to him, smiling all the more when in her sleep she took a deep breath and nuzzled her face into his bare chest. It was suddenly even harder to believe that she was responsible for the deaths of entire villages. He didn't like to believe it either.

After a long enjoyed silence he was brought from his thoughts by her voice.

"I don't want to stop pretending," she whispered.

How perfectly worded it was. Pretending. "Are we pretending?" He questioned quietly and waited attentively for her reply.

She frowned softly and tilted her head so it pushed heavier in to his arm as she kept her eyes on his stomach as her fingers traced soft invisible patterns over his skin, "...are we not?"

"...not entirely I don't think," he answered quietly and allowed his fingertips to softly play over her bare side, smiling when she shivered a little after he touched a particularly sensitive spot. She hummed quietly, thoughtful and doubtful while her fingers continued to shoot warmth through his body and he closed his eyes and nuzzled his face in to her dark hair with a quiet satisfied sigh. He was drowsy and wonderfully so, his entire body relaxed and comfortable with Regina's body warming his in time with the sun.

Silence enveloped them again but it was the most comforting silence she had listened to in a long time. She allowed her eyes to fall shut once more and pulled herself closer to him so the chilled skin of their fronts was pressed together and she could feel his muscles move with every slow relaxed breath. She had forgotten how wonderful it was to have this, to have someone, even if they were just pretending. Pretending that everything was fine, that nothing was out of the ordinary, that they would be able to keep the quiet and tender air around them forever. Pretending that the Evil Queen and Prince Charming did not just sleep with each other.

It had to be asked, she wished it didn't, she wished time could be frozen once more and she could live in this moment forever but time was never on her side, "now what?"

He did not open his eyes, he didn't move at all and instead remained still and relaxed as he simply savoured the early morning bliss he had found himself in with Regina of all people. "I don't know," he whispered simply and took a deep breath, smiling just a little when her scent filled his nose, "I should probably be regretting last night..."

Regina's voice was kept to a painfully neutral whisper, "yes you probably should be."

"But I'm not," he whispered thoughtfully, his thumb moving back and forth over her side, following the lines of her ribs. She tilted her head back from his chest and kept it rested on his arm as she looked him in the eye and he found himself smiling gently as he studied her. She didn't smile for she was doubtful, nervous, confused, and untrusting, but her eyes were softened with the hope that he was telling the truth and that he did not regret her. She was absolutely stunning when she was vulnerable and as he lifted his hand from her side and to her face to tuck dark strands of her hair behind her ear he shook his head and whispered, "I don't want to lose what we've gained."

"Neither do I," she whispered timidly and held his soft stare with pinpoint focus.

He lost himself in her eyes for a little while, the dark brown as intense as ever but rather than that murderous or angry intensity it was an interesting balance of a gentle will to allow her childlike innocence she had buried to shine through and throw herself in to his arms as well as her wary, beaten down adult experience telling her not to be foolish for situations such as these had only hurt her. It wasn't like he could say he wouldn't hurt her, he didn't want to but he couldn't say that he wouldn't. He didn't know himself if he would or wouldn't.

Before he even realized he was doing he had moved closer and parted her lips with his in a soft kiss, the hand that had pushed back the hair from her face now holding the back of her neck. She tensed at the contact and her hand laid flat on his stomach almost hard enough to be determined as a push away but he did not tense, he did not panic and pull away and instead moved his thumb over the corner of her jaw tenderly coaxing her to kiss him back. He shouldn't, he should have stopped while he was ahead, he shouldn't have started at all because he was a man who listened to his heart and his heart went mad at the mere thought of kissing her or touching her.

His mind had touched on the question if he would still feel that same raging fire burn throughout his body if he were to kiss her now and that it wasn't just a one night thing that would disappear forever. He supposed that his subconscious carried out the rest of the question and moved him so he could get the answer and when Regina allowed for herself to be coaxed and her flat hand moved and curled one finger at a time around the dark fabric of his open shirt as she relaxed into him and slowly pulled herself flush against him, he got his answer.

Even with their slow and soft pace the kiss was no less passionate and no less intense. He didn't know a kiss could feel like this, like his heart leapt out of his chest and his entire world turned upside down as her breath took his away. She gave him something he never even knew he missed and it was absolutely thrilling. It was also a problem.

She let her heart go to him with the promise to herself that it would be only for this one kiss, this one time, and then she would cage it once more. There was no harm right? And it felt so good, so nice to have him hold her close and kiss her like he could actually love her. She stomped down the wonderful flutter in her chest because she knew it was false hope for something she could never have. She loved how he made her feel though. She loved being kissed like she was the only one that mattered to him.

He pulled away slowly and kept his forehead resting against hers and his thumb moving over her jaw and cheekbone while the other held her close around her back. A troubled expression twisted his mouth and it had her frowning just a little as she closed her eyes again and nuzzled her head against his a little more and stayed there for a little while before moving her arms to wrap around his neck so she could pull herself up. His arms hugged her close around her middle while she buried her face in to his neck and shoulder and he rested his head on top of the side of hers.

Silence enveloped them once again, a troubled silence but a wonderful silence all the same. "We should probably get to the beanstalk," she whispered in to his neck and felt him nod a little.

"I know," he didn't want to let to of her though. So he didn't and she didn't let him go either. He didn't know what to do.

...

"I like you."

Regina laughed quietly and continued ahead of him, "well given our activity last night I should certainly hope so."

David laughed and shook his head, "that's not what I meant, I mean well yes that was fantastic and amazing and so, so hot," he closed his eyes and hummed a little as he followed her, listening to her laugh a little before he continued, "I meant that I actually like you, you're a great person."

Regina looked over her shoulder with a doubtful eyebrow raised, "you think so?"

He nodded and she raised both eyebrows before turning her head back straight to watch where she was leading them, "I do! Sure you're a little messed up inside your head there but who isn't?"

"Uh, you?" She quipped with a charming smile thrown over her shoulder and dropped her eyes down to his feet with a low rumbled laugh when he stumbled over nothing but his own feet.

David cleared his throat to find it had instantly gone dry at the sight before him as she slowly straightened her neck to watch where she was going, "right," he drew out the word, suddenly aware that he may have fallen for her a little harder than he had thought that morning. The married man who has fallen head over heels for a woman he couldn't stand only a week ago doesn't have anything a little off kilter in his head. He chuckled uneasily and then stopped dead along with his heart, "did I say that out loud?"

"What? That you're falling hopelessly in love with me like a fool?" She teased with an amused rock of her head and a soft chuckle. When she was met with silence she stopped walking and looked over her shoulder with a worried expression and found him standing a few strides away from her with practically no blood in his face, "no," she shook her head and kept her voice down, "no you didn't say a thing," she reassured slowly and added a silent nervous question to the end of her sentence and waited for him to reassure her and calm her racing heart.

"Good," he whispered with a tense nod of his head and his eyes focused hard on her own, "just checking."

"Good," she whispered in return and slowly began walking again but kept her eyes on his as she did.

He waited until she began walking at her normal place once again and nervously glanced over her shoulder once more before he cleared his throat and walked after her. "What I was saying was that I don't have any friends, I mean allies sure but not so much friends," he shrugged and she listened intently ahead of him, "you're kind of a kick ass friend."

Regina furrowed her brow and pointed to her chest as she looked over her shoulder, continuing to walk, "me?"

"Yeah! You're ridiculously smart, super friendly when you're not working through your raging temper, you are surprisingly easy to get along with, very strong, funny, and not to mention incredibly beautiful," he smiled and his heart skipped in his chest when she bowed her head with a smile she tried to hide as she straightened her neck to look back ahead of her, "I am quite happy to call you a friend."

"Well thank you," she smiled to herself, slightly despising the way her mouth curled into such a childish grin at his claim, "you're not so bad yourself Charming," she shot a smile over her shoulder, "I suppose I wouldn't mind calling you a friend either, can't say I've ever had a proper friend aside from Daniel."

"I really want to kiss you right now," he confessed with a low groan to his tone and then shook his head with an uneasy laugh when her smile faltered a little, "wow I really lose my filter when I look at you."

She recovered quickly but the shiver that shot straight down her spine and the warmth that grew in her belly had the quietest of moans vibrating deep in her throat and she was only relieved that he didn't hear it. She wanted to march up to him and pull him down in to a kiss by the opening of his leather jacket and let his hands roam over her body once more, "well there is no time for that dear. As for your filter I'm sure you'll be able to sort that out by the time we reach the top of the stalk."

Following her gaze as she turned her head he found the beanstalk and could only shake his head at the fact that he did not see the giant plant before despite it being practically right in front of him for the sole reason that Regina was walking ahead of him. "This...I hate this. I hate this a lot," he sighed as he looked up only to find no end.

"You ready?"

"Absolutely not."

Regina chuckled quietly and enchanted his jacket with a simple touch so he could climb unharmed, "you'll be fine. It's just a beanstalk."

"A very, very, very, very, very tall beanstalk."

"I can still go by myself."

"No," he shook his head at her gentle offer and exhaled slowly as he rubbed his hands over his face and held them in his hair, "gotta get something on video for Henry right?"

"Right," she smiled and stepped forward, slipping her fingers into his front pocket to take his phone and rising on her toes to keep her mouth a risky distance away from his as she turned her head to his ear and whispered slowly, "who knows, you may even get that kiss at the top."

...

"Hello Henry! Sorry for the delay, we had to take a detour to the beanstalk but we are an hour up the climb and David is absolutely hysterical right now," she laughed and turned the phone around to focus on David clinging to the stalk.

"I hate you so much!"

"You're doing great!"

"Shut up Regina I'm gonna fall!"

"Don't look down!" She teased with a laugh and shook her head at him when he couldn't help but look down beneath his arm.

"Oh god! That's really high! Like really high! Regina!"

"Yes darling?" She chuckled and he groaned as he pulled himself higher.

"Don't 'darling' me right now sweetheart," he retorted sarcastically and listened to her laugh, "this is so far from funny!"

"It's absolutely hilarious," she chuckled and made herself comfortable by tangling her leg in to one of the thick vines spiralling the beanstalk so she had the use of both her hands.

David looked up at her to find her practically hanging off the side, "don't do that Regina! You're scaring the hell out of me! Hold on to something!"

"I'm perfectly alright David," she assured with a laugh and watched him struggle his way up higher. "Even Prince Charming gets scared Henry. I do hope you never let him forget that," she quipped and David laughed loudly, slowly, and very sarcastically.

"You just wait until I figure out what it is that scares the hell out of you," he clenched his jaw as he pulled himself higher, "spiders?"

"Nope."

"Mice?"

"Not at all."

"Rainbows?" Regina pushed her head back in a laugh, a laugh that had him chuckling a little as he continued higher, "butterflies? Kittens? Glitter?"

"You're going to have to try a little harder than that Charming," she laughed and shook her head.

David smiled and gripped the beanstalk tightly with both hands as he made himself as comfortable as possible next to Regina, "no I know exactly what terrifies you to your very core," he smiled and she lifted her eyebrows with a doubtful tilt of her head.

"Oh do you now?"

He nodded and touched her chest with his fingertips, "love," he offered simply and withdrew his hand with a small smile that saddened a little when she remained silent. "Scared of gaining it, scared of losing it..." He cocked his head slightly and she remained still and silent, not even blinking, "correct?"

She held his gentle stare and after a long moment's pause she whispered nervously, "correct."

...

Regina took a flying leap of the very tip of the beanstalk and ran forward with her arms outstretched to catch her balance when she landed on the ground of the floating home of the giant. She rolled her shoulders and shook out her arms, taking a deep breath laced with a laugh before turning around to find David getting ready to jump. She lifted the phone from her blazer pocket and started a new video, "come on David. It's not as bad as it looks."

"Shut up," he whispered loudly, copying her volume so as not to disturb the giant, "you're smaller than me!"

"So?"

"So you don't fall as fast and therefore get more horizontal airtime!"

"Oh my god," she laughed and ran a hand through her hair.

"Don't mock me! It makes sense!"

"Just jump! It's getting late and I don't particularly want to climb down in the dark if the giant doesn't take too kindly to us," she breathed out a quiet laugh when his eyes went wide.

"I'm not climbing down this thing in the dark! Are you fu-"

"Language!" She snapped with an amused laugh and a nod to the phone, "there will be others listening."

"As soon as that video is over!" He warned with a point toward the phone and Regina only laughed. "Okay," he huffed and readied himself for the leap, "okay, okay, okay, okay," with one last quick exhale he jumped and landed safely on the ground, stumbling to catch his balance just as Regina had. "Oh ground!" He rejoiced and dropped down to his knees and then on to his hands, listening to Regina's footsteps come closer as he laid down, "I'm just gonna lay here for a minute...or ten."

"Oh come now Charming," she poked his arm with the toe of her boot and laughed quietly as he kept his face hidden, "quit your shaking and let's find the compass," she only received a groan in response and she poked him again, "get up."

"Alright alright," he mumbled and took a deep breath before slowly pushing himself up to his feet.

"Very good," she chuckled and smiled brilliantly at him as she ended the video but before she had the chance to give him back his phone he had her firmly pulled against him and caught in a kiss. She hadn't forgotten about her offer but she had hoped that by some miracle he had. Practically all protests were forgotten however when his hands tangled in her hair and he swivelled his head before deepening the kiss to earn himself a long purr of a moan from herself.

"This can't be wrong," he whispered against her parted lips before kissing her again and kissing her hard.

"It is very wrong," she whispered quickly before she pulled him back to her by the collar of his leather jacket. It was a mistake, they both knew quite well that it was a huge mistake but they found that, like a drug, it was very difficult to quit and unlike said drug perhaps it was exactly what the other needed.

"You know what I think?"

"Hmm?" She hummed the question against his mouth, her mind foggy with lust to say the least.

"We should play this out and see what happens," he whispered against her mouth before diving for her neck and getting a bit of a high off the strangled pleasured whimper leaving her parted lips.

"Okay," she responded automatically but his words didn't form entirely in her mind until moments after his teeth nipped at her neck and his mouth found hers once again. "Wait, what!?" They broke the kiss and stared at one another with heaving chests and their faces mere inches apart. Her brow was knitted together in confusion and her eyes were slightly squinted as her breaths entered and left through parted lips while he simply looked shocked at his words and was thinking them through for the first time himself.

After a tense few seconds of silence David opened his mouth a little more to say something he wasn't quite sure but was saved from having to do so by the loud vibrating footsteps of a walking giant and they both snapped their heads to the approaching sound.


	13. Chapter 13

**Just a bit of fun and games really :) I will try to get the next update done and posted before I leave for New York but I also have a drawing to get done so I'm not making any promises! I hope you enjoy this chapter :) **

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"So," she stepped back from him and quirked her head at the large doorway, "ever seen a giant before?"

"No," he laughed quietly, his nerves still fried as he watched her add distance between them, "have you?"

Regina shrugged and laughed a little, "I've been around."

"Well you are just _full_ of surprises," he nodded his head at her once with a shocked and intrigued expression and a low laugh rumbled in her throat through her teeth.

"Try not to do anything stupid dear," she smirked and looked him up and down, his proposal still nagging in the back of her mind. What would happen if they did play it out? Would they simply get it out of their system? Would they fall harder for one another? Would it work? Would it hurt?

"Hello!" She called up to the giant in friendly greeting and he looked down at her, "we were wondering if we could speak to you? It would only take a-"

"You!"

"Me!?" David questioned and pointed to his chest doubtfully.

"Him!?" Regina furrowed her brow and looked to David.

"How dare you come back here!" He leaned down and snatched up the small man in his fist, "after what you did to me!? After what you did to all of us!? Who do you think you are to come back here!?"

"What are you talking about?" David asked through gritted teeth as the giant's fist clenched tighter around him.

"Okay David when I asked you if you had ever seen a giant I expected you to tell me the truth and not complicate things by not informing me that you single handedly pissed them all off!" She shouted angrily up at him with her hands flinging around as she spoke and then finished with them clenched at her sides.

"Regina!"

"This was supposed to be an easy job David!"

"Regina he's crushing me."

"Up the beanstalk and down the beanstalk! God! It makes me want to just kill you myself!"

"Regina!"

"What!?"

"Can you maybe finish your rant when I'm not being crushed to death!?" He growled and squirmed in the giant's vice like grip.

"He is lying to you too!" He informed the woman standing furiously below him.

"I know he is lying to me you fool! Now let him go so I can strangle him myself!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"He deserves to die for what he did!"

"I agree!"

"Regina you are so not helping!"

"Shut up David!" She waved her hand angrily and he groaned and jerked around in the giant's hold, thoroughly furious.

"God damn it Regina stop fucking magic slapping me!"

"His name is not David!" The giant boomed and squeezed the man a little harder.

"What are you talking about!?" She yelled and threw her arms around furiously.

"His name is James! And he killed my family! And left Jack for dead!" He glared at the man fighting for air but stopped squeezing him so hard and snapped his attention to the woman when she started laughing, her hands on her hips and her weight on one foot.

"Regina I swear to god if you don't stop laughing I will kill you! This is so not funny!"

"Oh no as a matter of fact it is quite amusing," she nodded and cocked her head with a greatly amused smile, "stuck in the shadow of your arrogant brother once again."

"Get me _down_ from here Regina!" He growled and fought the giant's grip once more.

"What do you mean his brother?"

"David here had a twin brother named James. He's long dead now however. Only one person truly misses him but really that one man makes James seem like a saint so I don't really think it counts for much."

"Who is to say that this man is any different then!? I should just kill him anyway!"

"Sure go right ahead."

"Regina!"

"Kill the harmless shepherd because of the brother he has never had any contact with whatsoever. Because you really just never _know_ who you may be dealing with," she spoke slowly, enunciating every word carefully as she looked up past the giant and cocked her head in mock thought before meeting his gaze once more and holding it steady.

"Is she telling the truth?"

"Yes," he breathed out, relief closing his eyes at the giant's relaxed tone, "yes she is telling the truth."

"Why are you here then? Gold? Beans? Because-"

"There are none," she finished for him and then motioned to David with her arm, "let him go and we will be quite happy to explain our presence here," after a few seconds longer David was released from the giant's grip and placed safely on the ground, "thank you," she nodded and smiled a little when David hurried to her side with an unimpressed glower aimed at herself.

"Now why are you here? No one comes up here unless they need something and they are always ready to take it by force if they are denied permission."

"May we have your name?" She asked gently with a duck of her chin and eyebrows slightly raised.

"Anton."

"Anton you would be correct in your assumption that we need something from up here, it is quite a trek for any other reason. Just a simple trinket, a compass that will lead us home to our families. I do not expect you to give it up right away and that is quite alright we can touch on details later but if you would be so kind to allow us to stay the night we would be very grateful as we are quite tired and could use a break from the dangers hunting us down at ground level."

He simply stared down at them with his mouth pressed in to a thin line that she analyzed quickly and gave him the words he didn't know he wanted to hear until she said them, "I am feeling free to assume a little company wouldn't hurt," she started with a small smile and his eyes immediately focused on her own, "you have had no one to talk to but yourself for years now. You can only comfort yourself for so long before loneliness and solitude leave you hopeless and insane. We are not here to hurt you Anton and I can assure you the two of us will make you laugh again. I know what it feels like to forget how."

Anton held her soft and painfully honest gaze for just a few moments longer before he gave a solemn nod and pointed over his shoulder, "I suppose I could feed you. You aren't very big so you won't eat much..."

"That would be wonderful," she smiled up at him and he gave another quick nod, "thank you Anton."

When Anton turned around and began walking back inside David walked alongside Regina and took his time studying her, "you are amazing."

"David I don't-"

"No," he cut her off gently and shook his head and she glanced sideways at him with nervous eyes, "I didn't mean it like that. You just talked down an angry giant and then proceeded to get him to invite us inside for dinner. Not to mention you saved my life," he smiled and she dropped her eyes to the floor with a small shrug, "now while I am still prepared to make you squirm the next time you need my help I am no less impressed by the fact that you only used words. No magic, no weapons, no force."

Regina hummed a quiet laugh and lifted her head, turning it to look him in the eye, "words have plenty of power David. Words can calm, words can anger, words can fight, words can heal, words can hurt, words can control," she smiled a just a little and then quieted her voice to a soft slow whisper that had him soaking in every piece, "words can wring tears from the very hardest of hearts."

Her last sentence stole his breath and he could not look away from the intensity of her sad dark eyes. Slowly he came to a stop and then softly pulled her head in to a kiss. A gentle kiss, a tender and heartfelt kiss that had her quivering silently against him. He broke the kiss only seconds after and kept her close, pushing the dark hair from her closed eyes as she rolled her lips in to her mouth and tried her very hardest to keep herself together. "I am not very good with words," he whispered and she kept her eyes closed and her head bowed as he tucked the soft strands behind her ear, "but I have found that sometimes all one needs is a kiss."

...

Regina walked across the top of the wooden table examining the large items sitting upon it. When she came upon a large spoon resting upon the edge of a plate she grinned mischievously as she reached up and tested the difficulty to move the large piece of silverware to find it to be easier than she had thought. She climbed up on to the plate and looked to the other end of the table to assure David was still occupied with Anton before rolling an oversized pea on to the spoon.

Pivoting the spoon on the fulcrum the plate provided she laughed under her breath and after a moment of rough calculation she jumped on the end of the spoon, launching the pea in to the air, "hey David!"

"Yes? Oh my g-" the air was forced from his lungs and he went flying backward, landing on his back with his arms wrapped around as much of the green sphere as he could. He groaned as he let the sphere roll from his grip and heard Regina laughing loudly and clapping her hands, "what in the _hell_," he groaned and tried to catch his breath, "was that!?"

"A pea," Anton chuckled a little and watched Regina walk up to David with a skip in her step.

"A pea!?" He questioned as he sat up and rubbed his neck, "Regina...why!?"

"The real question is why not?" She smirked and rocked her head on her shoulders.

David simply shook his head and laughed at her, wonderfully happy at finding yet another side to her. Just when he thought that perhaps he had seen all of her she would turn around and show him something new so now he resigned himself to stop waiting and claiming to know all of her and instead happily watch and learn her. He should be thinking about Snow, about how to get back to her, and be looking forward to holding her in his arms once again but Regina had a funny way of accidentally stealing his heart.

"So," Anton started and placed a plate with the smallest chicken leg he could find in front of them, "what is your story?"

Regina smiled up at him in thanks and pulled her dagger from its place tucked in her belt and began cutting a small piece off but it was David who answered, "well Regina is a queen and I am a king. Although the title of prince has seemed to stick better."

"Oh so I'm the queen again?" Her voice holding a light laugh as she looked over her shoulder at him with a smile.

"You will always be the queen," he shook his head and laughed a little, "even when you were dethroned you were still referred to as the queen."

"Poor Charming just can't win," she pouted playfully and paused her cutting.

"No I can't!"

"But...you said he was a shepherd," Anton questioned suspiciously and eyed over his guests.

"I was," he confirmed with a nod, "but when James was killed I was recruited to take his place and act as prince. I then married a princess and now my title is king. A dark curse and a wraith later we find ourselves here trying to get back to our families."

"Well look at that, our whole lives summed up in three whole sentences," she chuckled sarcastically and handed him a piece of chicken.

"So you two weren't always together then? I mean a royal and a shepherd wouldn't have crossed paths right from the beginning."

"The two of us never actually got along until less than a week ago," Regina chuckled and sat down to try and tackle eating the chicken in her hand.

"That would probably because you tried and basically succeeded in killing everyone you came in to contact to."

"Not true!" She scoffed and laughed in his direction.

He nodded enthusiastically with his eyebrows raised, "very true!"

"I saved your life," she motioned toward him and he rolled his eyes.

"Okay that doesn't count because it was for your twisted benefit!"

"Does so count!" She argued and then looked up at Anton who had sat down and rested his chin on the backs of his hands that laid flat on the table, "I kept him from losing his head via guillotine and you know what he does for me in return? Tricks me in to getting trapped by fairy dust, locks me in a tower, dresses me in rags, ties me to a post, blindfolds me, and proceeds to line up four of his guards to shoot me in the heart."

"Hey now I took an arrow for you so don't get all high and mighty."

"What? When?" She laughed curiously and he waved his hands around as he tried to form the words.

"Snow took some weird potion or something that kept her from loving and she went after you on your travels to the winter palace."

Regina hummed with a wicked smile on her closed lips as she looked up a little at the wall behind David, "I would have loved to have seen her like that."

"Twisted," he pointed at her and looked to Anton who smiled a little and breathed out a quiet laugh, "so the life saving was even and only our murder threats and attempts are left askew from one another.

Regina furrowed her brow and laughed as she shook her head, a quiet laugh lacing her tone, "very askew. I don't recall once going after your life."

David placed his hands on his hips and opened his mouth to answer with an amused smile but found his mind was empty of examples and he had to face a Regina who was having too much fun with the conversation as a smirk played on her mouth and she cocked her head with a raised eyebrow waiting for an answer she knew he didn't have, "huh."

"That's what I thought," she laughed and shook her head in amusement.

"Well I apologize for accusing you of trying to kill me."

"Thank you dear."

"But there were all those times you went after Snow so," he shrugged his shoulders and breathed in through his teeth.

"Well that was her own fault. Had nothing to do with you," she smirked and slowly sucked the flavour of the chicken off her finger, her smirk only growing in to a toothy grin when a look of lust flashed over David's face. "We need a photo for Henry!" She exclaimed and pushed herself back on to her feet while David snapped back in to reality.

"Who is Henry? And what is a...photo?"

Regina and David laughed quietly as he pulled out his phone, "Henry is my son and a photograph is sort of like a painting only it can be painted, or taken rather, instantly and it looks exactly as it should. Here," she smiled and took the phone from David and took a picture of him laughing at them before turning around and walking up to Anton and on to his hands, "can you see?"

"Whoa! That's insane!" He grinned and squinted at David's face on the small glowing rectangle Regina presented him, "where did you get that!?"

"They're a common possession in the land we have been living in, practically everyone owns some form of camera," she smiled at him and then jumped down before tossing the phone back to David, "do you mind if we take your photo? Perhaps even a video?"

"What is a video?"

"It is a moving photo," David answered happily and Anton's face brightened with a new curiosity and he started a video, "hey kid!"

"Hello Henry!" Regina waved with a grin to the camera and settled against Anton's hand.

"We made it up to the top! And after a little bit if a misunderstanding we have befriended Anton! Oh one second," he laughed and then jogged backwards with his head turned so he could see behind him and not trip. When Anton's head was almost entirely visible in the screen and Regina was but a small shadow he stopped, "the giant living at the top of the beanstalk. Say hello Anton."

"To the box?"

"Yes," he laughed and with a quizzical stare he obliged.

"Hello box," it resulted in both David and Regina laughing and then he too started to laugh, "oh no wait I was supposed to say hello to the kid wasn't I? Oops, sorry! Hello Henry, I'm new to this. Do these moving picture videos remember the sound too?" He was answered with a nod from Regina, "like all sounds?"

"Yes all sounds," she laughed quietly and nodded as she folded her arms across her chest.

"How old is Henry?"

"He is almost eleven."

"Well I would imagine that a ten, almost eleven year old boy would love to see a giant giant's room full of gold," Anton grinned and Regina laughed a low hearty laugh that had him laughing with her.

"Oh yes I would have to agree."

...

"Look at the sky!" She whispered and ran to the edge of the stone edge to look at the clouds. They were above the clouds they were so high and now that the sun had sunk beneath them they had changed colour in to variations of pinks so that it looked like a quilt covering the earth beneath them, a continuation of the stone she stood upon as some of the clouds licked the edge around her feet.

"It's beautiful isn't it," Anton smiled as he stopped behind her and David stopped beside her, "I like it when it's orange."

"It's amazing," she smiled out at the colourful horizon and then turned her head to look at David to instead find the camera pointed at herself. She smiled a little and cocked her head at him but he only smiled wider, "take a picture of the sky David," she laughed quietly and looked back out in front of them.

After another breathtaking moment of the short video he ended it and switched it back so it would take a picture instead and proceeded to take a picture of the clouds before taking one of her. He waited to push the shutter button until she gave in to the smile that started curling her lips when out of the corner of her eye she saw him return the camera back to her. When white teeth were visible beneath soft pink lips as she bowed her head a little and breathed out a laugh he took the picture quickly so as not to miss the soft beauty that she kept many from seeing. A stunning sight just as her bold and striking beauty was that she couldn't help but show.

"It's cold up here," she whispered but did nothing about it, simply turned her head to look back out at the clouds.

"Altitude," David smiled and she nodded with a playful smirk because she knew the answer and was just speaking her thoughts. She paid no attention to his movement when he shrugged out of his leather jacket for she seemed to be lost in thought and was startled when he placed the heavy jacket on her small shoulders. She tried to step out of it but he kept it in place with his hands on her shoulders and a smile on his face, "just take it Regina."

It was the gesture that caught her by surprise and made her uncomfortable not the warmth his heavy jacket provided. It had been a long time since a man had removed his jacket and given it to her, sacrificing his comfort for her own. She didn't quite know what to do with herself. The way he looked over her with a soft smile and a slightly cocked head lead her to believe that he knew exactly why she was struggling and that made her all the more uncomfortable.

But the jacket was warm...and it smelled like him...

"Thank you," she whispered and dropped her eyes down and away from his as she slowly slipped her arms through the oversized sleeves.

"Of course," he whispered his reply and rubbed her back between her shoulder blades, "anytime," he didn't think such a simple common act would make her stumble and leave her so stuck. With further thought however he found that if she had reacted in any other way than she had then it would have been odd. Poor woman was running backwards and and upside down when all she really wanted to do was run forward and right side up. She just didn't know how.

"Oh I forgot that you guys are so small," Anton frowned as he lowered himself on to his knees, "you get colder faster."

"Quite alright," Regina smiled and hugged the large jacket closed around herself as she twisted at the waist to look up at the giant, her hands covered by the long sleeves, "we've lived through so much worse than a little chill in the air."

"Even still I should probably take you guys back inside where there at least wont be a breeze...I've got a few small crates and I know I've got a few beds in my collection of human sized objects. I could make you a room. Or a room for each of you if you'd prefer that?"

The pair remained silent at the offer, the both of them wanting the same thing but both unwilling to admit to themselves let alone in front of the other. So Regina compromised with a deal, "if David can catch me before I make it back to the dining room table then I think we can manage with one bed," she gave a devious grin to Anton who grinned right back and then without another word she turned around quickly and gave David a hard shove sending him stumbling backward with a panicked yelp over the edge and in to the clouds only to shoot right back up again and land back on the stone with comical grace.

"What the _fuck_ Regina!?" He bellowed, his angry voice shaky with terror as was the rest of his body while his fingers dug in to the stone and he ignored the ache in his knees because of his weight on the hard cold rock.

Regina laughed and Anton laughed loudly behind her, entirely amused by the shaking prince, "minor manipulation of a boundary spell," she chuckled down at him, "oh that was satisfying."

"What!?"

"You'll never fall David. The spell keeps you from leaving except for down the beanstalk."

"But did you know that for sure!? Did you know one hundred percent, without a doubt in your god damn twisted mind that you weren't about to just kill me!?"

"Yes," she laughed and Anton continued to laugh loudly behind her from deep in his belly.

"How the fuck could you have possibly known that!?"

"Because I know what it feels like to be trapped by this spell," she answered simply and his eyes met hers for the first time since the shove, "now do you want one bed or two?"

"I can't feel my legs but I swear to god Regina I'm going to push you off the edge with plenty of doubts that it will catch you!" He pushed himself to his feet and after a few stumbles he was running as fast as ever after the laughing brunette still wearing his oversized jacket.


	14. Chapter 14

**I'm back from New York! Had a blast! But I am glad to be back home ;) now seeing as how I was in the middle seat on the plane and shared a bed at the hotel, I was not able to write much without anyone reading over my shoulder and I did not need to explain why I was writing this! Hahaha I hope you enjoy it! Please leave a review! It is one of my favorite parts about writing :)**

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She couldn't sleep, she laid there wide awake tossing and turning hoping that if she could just find the right position she wouldn't have to admit that it was because there were no large arms holding her close against a strong warm body that she couldn't find it in her to sleep. She refused to admit that.

With a quiet sigh she removed one leg out from beneath the blanket in case she was just too warm but after a few seconds of the cold air cooling her bare skin she decided that that was not the problem. So she slid it back underneath to get warm again and shook her head in her hands as she rolled on to her back.

Her inability to sleep was not because she missed David. That would be absolutely ridiculous. She had no reason to be missing him. There was no point in missing him.

She rolled on to her side but sleep never came and she knew it never would.

...

David laid on his back quietly with his eyes focused on the top of the crate Anton had provided each of them to use as a room. What he was trying very unsuccessfully to do was to fill his mind with Snow. His wife. It was unsuccessful because the woman filling his mind was the woman he had no business pursuing and he knew it. The woman filling his mind was Regina.

Bright hazel eyes were replaced by dark chocolate brown, short hair was lengthened, body was fitter, voices were lowered and obtained a new raspy sound, the happy whole woman turned into the broken and twisted woman that intrigued him immensely.

Snow.

Not Regina. He did not need her, he needed to stay loyal to Snow...well loyal to whatever loyalties he had left. Kissing Regina was not loyal to Snow, having sex with Regina was not loyal to Snow, pursuing Regina was not loyal to Snow. It made him feel guilty. He was betraying his wife, the woman who stood at his side no matter the situation and here he was trying to start another relationship with another woman and then to have that other woman be Regina of all people...it only made it that much worse and confusing.

He never would have thought that there was that much of a person underneath the Evil Queen. She had so much love to give and he knew that now, he knew that everything she had done in the past was stemmed off a broken heart and to have a wound like that could only be caused by ripping away a love that she felt through her every nerve. To be so miserable and so angry at the world, so full of despair and loneliness could only be a result of feeling with every part of herself.

He couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like for someone to love him with every single fibre in her being, to devote herself entirely to him, to love him so much that if he were to be taken from her she would cast a dark curse because she simply couldn't handle the pain.

Yes he knew that there were other factors that lead to her spiral in to madness but it started with Daniel and people using the memory of the simple stable boy to ruin her.

He wanted to know what it felt like to be loved by her, to have her let herself give in to him. But he was married. He couldn't have that and he couldn't admit to himself what he already knew quite well. That he was madly in love with Regina Mills.

So there he laid undisturbed by sleep and only thought. Right and wrong, guilt and love, his attention only caught by the movement of the shadows on the ceiling of his makeshift bedroom. "Regina?" He whispered curiously, his hopeful tone not well hidden in his voice as he sat up on his elbows and looked in to the dark to see a beautiful silhouette that could only belong to her.

Bare feet stood on the wooden table top that had become cool to the touch with the disappearance of the sun and her slim strong legs were bare as well, one bent at the knee ever so slightly as she held one hand on the wall of his crate. She wore her white button up shirt and her pillow tousled hair reflected the candlelight that came from behind her as she rested the side of her head above her hand on the edge of the crate. The effort it took not to get out of bed and kiss her was unbelievable, "couldn't sleep either?" He offered with a small smile hoping that she would come to him and fill the empty space beside him.

Regina shrugged a little, grateful for the fact that the light was behind her and not shining on her face because she knew quite well that her expression of pure want would have been easily caught by the prince when she laid eyes on his muscular chest and stomach as he sat up straight and the blankets gathered around his waist. "I was actually hoping you were asleep," she confessed quietly with a nervous laugh hummed through her lips, "give myself an excuse to go back to my own bed."

It scared him how fast he fell in love with her, "sorry to disappoint," he smirked and she bowed her head with a soft short laugh and moved the hand hanging at her side so it crossed over in front of her to gently rest alongside her head and other hand on the wood. Silently he pulled back the corner of the blankets next to him in an offer for her to climb in beside him and a few moments and a quiet thrum of fingertips on wood later she was hesitantly walking toward the side of the bed.

As she got closer he was able to see her better. She looked tired and nervous, undecided on her actions and the meanings behind them just as he was of his own. She wore only black lace panties and her white button up shirt that barely covered a thing past her pelvis and he had to fight hard against the desire to move his hands over the smooth skin of her thighs and the muscles beneath. He had to fight the will to knead her breasts through her shirt as they remain unconstricted by her black bra that she must have left with the rest of her clothing. To keep himself from leaning toward her to catch her mouth in a bruising kiss he bit down hard on his tongue and forced himself to sit still as she sat next to him with one leg hanging off the side of the bed from the knee down and the other folded in front of her as though she was going to sit cross legged.

"What are we doing?" She whispered almost too quiet to hear as she stared down at her hands resting on her calf.

"I don't know," he whispered just as quietly and she remained unchanged by his answer. Shaking his head a little and keeping his voice down to the same whisper he added, "I don't want to stop though."

"David," she protested in a whisper as she closed her eyes and shook her head slowly, "you're married. And to Snow no less."

She opened her eyes and looked at him and it broke his heart to see tears in those stunning eyes because once again she couldn't have what her poor tired heart wanted, "you don't think I am painfully aware of that?" He replied gently and ducked his head down in an attempt to hold that beautifully painful gaze as she dropped her head back down and closed her eyes once more.

"I'm lonely David," she whispered in defeat and shook her head slowly, "and lonely people do stupid things when they are given someone to keep them from getting lonely again. I don't want to lose this, what we have right now, over a stupid decision to have sex...again. I don't have anyone David and I don't want to lose you," she whispered and hurriedly wiped a fallen tear from her cheek.

"You don't have to be lonely anymore Regina," his voice still a whisper as he offered her a small smile when she lifted her head to look him in the eye again. "I don't want to lose this either," then he shrugged and continued in a slightly teasing tone, "as for you doing stupid shit because of it, I'm pretty sure I've already seen you at your worst so bring it on," his smile grew a little more when she started to laugh quietly through watery eyes, "we'll do stupid shit together okay?"

"Okay," she sniffed quietly as she laughed and nodded a little.

David hummed softly through a smile as he looked between dark eyes and then reached forward and held his hands around her thighs, pulling her gently, "come here," he whispered and she did. She rolled forward on to her knees and then turned around so she sat sideways between his legs and wrapped her arms around his neck as he did her waist while her bare legs laid comfortably over one of his jean clad ones. "What if there is something better?" He asked and rubbed a thumb over her back. She remained silent and unmoving but he knew she was listening, "what if this friendship could be built upon in to something amazing?"

"I don't like to gamble," she whispered in to him and then shook her head and wound her arms tighter, "I don't like to use my heart as stakes for something I don't know the outcome of."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"I don't believe you."

Her whisper only made him smile while a sad pang rang through his heart and he lifted his head from her shoulder and an arm from around her waist to lay a finger under her chin and lift her head from his chest, "I promise I won't leave you alone again."

"I don't believe that either," she whispered and barely got to finish her sentence before her breath was stolen with a kiss. A warm tingling feeling burst from her chest and spread throughout her entire body and despite knowing it was wrong, despite knowing it was only going to make things harder she leaned in to him and wound her arms tighter around his neck so she pulled herself taller.

Without breaking the kiss she moved so she straddled his lap, a knee pushing on the bed on either side of his hips. Silently she instructed him to move backward and he did as he was asked while she left her mouth to hover over his own and he moved until his back was rested flat against the wooden headboard of the bed. Her fingers curled loosely around the nape of his neck and she shivered wonderfully at the sensation of his hot breath skimming her neck and collarbone before she dropped her head and closed her parted lips around his bottom lip in a soft slow kiss.

She didn't plan on giving in to his touch, on allowing herself to be vulnerable and gentle, she never imagined that she would permit so much of her heart to be let go to run wild with his as he touched her and held her and kissed her. But it felt amazing. His hands wandering firmly and heavily over her thighs had her heart beating madly in her chest. Starting at her knees and moving up, his hands wrapped partway around her thighs and then gripped her hips before moving back down again.

His hands were only at her knees for a split second before they were moving back up again only this time they were a little further behind her thighs and his hands spread over her ass as he pulled her in closer to him so her center was pressed against his stomach. She allowed him to deepen the kiss and was pleased immensely when he did not move to change its wonderfully slow and intimate pace.

Slowly he removed one hand from behind her and over her hip to settle in front of her with his palm turned up so his fingers could run lightly back and forth over the black lace between her legs. He paid close attention to the hand that left the back of his neck and travelled down his arm only to find himself start to grow hard when her soft hand laid flat against the back of his and pushed, slightly increasing the amount of pressure he provided against her clit which caused her to moan softly in to his mouth.

He wanted to bite her, mark her, he wanted to slam her against a wall, he wanted to fuck her hard and fast, all were things he had never even considered doing with Snow and what had had him wanting to do them with Regina he did not know. What kept him from doing it all was that intensity of what they were doing know was plenty to keep him at bay as well as the fact that he didn't want to upset her or bring back any horrifying memories from her time with Leopold. He wanted to know her better before he experimented.

He wanted to love her, cherish her, be the one person in her life that stayed at her side forever. Yes he was married to Snow, yes he felt absolutely sick to his stomach at the thought of hurting her but he was a man who did not hide his heart behind layers of nearly impenetrable walls and therefore he could not make excuses, deny, or ignore the fact that with every smile, every word, every movement, Regina unintentionally settled a little deeper in his heart. He could no longer deny that when she was this close the ache in his heart that was almost painful was love.

It was stronger, it was more powerful, and as much as he hated to admit it it was what he had been searching for and thought he had found in Snow. As he pushed the dampened lace to the side and slowly pushed two of his fingers inside of her and she paused their break for air for a little longer to moan quietly and move her hand back up from over his, he came up with an interesting thought. Perhaps love wasn't about finding the perfect person but rather about finding an imperfect person and learning to see them perfectly.

Regina, he once thought, was the furthest from perfect.

Regina's brow creased in pleasure as she breathed out another moan at the fingers moving inside her, her head tilted down to see the defining lines over his torso created by strong muscles. She moved her hands over her stomach and chest, feeling her own body as her eyes fluttered closed and he lowered his mouth to her neck. She tilted her head to the side to allow him to do as he pleased while she began opening the buttons of her shirt one by one starting at the one across her breasts.

The air was cold around them and her fingers were cool as they moved over her front that had remained warm from being pressed against him. The difference in temperatures caused short bouts of shivers to run up and down her spine. Sex with him was addictive. He gave her no choice but to allow herself to feel and let her heart go, something she refused to really let herself do in simple conversation. She loved to feel. She hated locking herself away.

With all the buttons opened she shrugged out of the thin white fabric and tugged it from her wrists so she could toss it carelessly to the side and move a cold hand over one of her breasts while David allowed his free hand to wander up and cover the soft flesh as his rough stubble scratched her chest on his way down to close his mouth around a hardened nipple. Her breaths were growing shaky and heavy as his fingers continued to move steadily inside her but he seemed to realize that and sped up.

Her knees wavered at the increase in speed and her moans grew louder as her breaths grew heavier. A low moan vibrated deep and long in her throat when he pressed his hot tongue hard against her breast and moved up slowly, pushing her breast up and then letting it drop with a small bounce and leaving the cold air to surround the wet skin. He did not kiss her but instead hovered over her and watched her face crease with pleasure at his fingers inside her. Her short and shallow breaths against his jaw were driving him mad and the quiet whimpers and moans that combined with her exhales and hisses through her teeth only had him growing harder.

"Regina," he whispered lowly across her jaw and she responded wonderfully with her name being said in such a tone. Quiet choked screams signaled the beginning of her orgasm and he moved his fingers just a little faster to make her body tremble and her moans a little louder but not loud enough to wake the sleeping giant.

"Mmm yeah," she whimpered and gasped as she rested her forehead against his, brushing their lips together but not kissing him for she was too caught up in the lengthy orgasm vibrating through her body. To both her relief and disappointment he slowed to a halt and removed his fingers from inside her. She caught his wrist in her hand and brought his fingers to her mouth, slowly sucking them clean and tasting herself on him.

David stared at her mouth as it closed around his fingers and he felt her hot tongue move around his two fingers and felt his erection fight against his jeans. When her mouth left the tips of his fingers he pulled her in to a bruising kiss, quickly deepening it to catch the last traces of her on her tongue. His fingers pulled at her panties and as she maneuvered to help him remove them he lifted her and spun her, pressing her back against the headboard so her legs secured around his waist and he stood on his knees as he tossed the black lace to the side and continued to kiss her hard.

Her fingers worked open the button on his jeans, glad to find he had removed his belt before he retired to bed. Yanking down the clothing as best she could in her position, she let him do the rest himself and instead reached between them to take hold of his length and pleasure him while he pushed her head back against the wood with his kiss. It didn't take long before his hand replaced hers and he slowly guided himself in to her.

She moaned lowly at the sensation and moved her hands up so they curled loosely around the nape of his neck, "yes," her voice was a rumbled moan against his mouth and her lips parted in a pleasured gasp when he began moving slow but hard. The cold air around them forgotten despite their breaths now coming out in visible puffs of moisture as he moved inside her and she wound her legs tighter as the warmth built up deep in her belly.

Fingernails dug in to the back of his neck every so often but it only encouraged him to continue as his breaths became ragged and heavy with hers. He held her hips for his easy movement and kept her pinned against the the headboard as he lowered his mouth to close around her gently protruding collar bone and slowly moved up higher. With every moan vibrating against his lips on her throat he found himself thrusting just a little faster and when his mouth found the corner of her jaw she turned her head to whisper in his ear and her words caused shivers to shoot down his spine.

"Fuck me harder Charming," her lips remained parted as he lifted his head to hover over her mouth and she continued with her raspy tone, "stop holding back," a smile flashed across his mouth and she couldn't help but mirror it before he stopped his thrusts and caught her mouth in a fierce kiss that had her pulling his head in hard to give him no escape.

He broke the kiss roughly and left one hand on her hip but moved the other higher so his fingers curled around her ribs and his thumb pressed in to her breast next to her hardened nipple. He leaned back away from her only a little just for a little extra leverage as he began thrusting, slow at first but soon enough he was pounding against her and his grip was tightened around her hip and ribcage. She was warm and tight around him and her loud pleasured vocals went straight to his cock and made it harder for him to maintain the stamina he wanted.

The muscles in her stomach flexed fantastically with every breath, moan, and scream as he fucked her harder and faster just as he wanted but believed he wouldn't get to do just yet. Her fingers clawed into the wood of the headboard as she arched her back off of it with a strangled moan, searching for relief from the building pressure.

"Fuck," she moaned, her voice bouncing in time with his motion. Her breaths were harder to come by and she couldn't help but urge him to continue with shallow breaths and long cries of pleasure.

At this pace he knew he wasn't going to last too much longer and with the wonderful groans through clenched teeth he was hearing from her she wasn't far off herself. He swore under his breath as she writhed with pleasure and gasps while he felt himself getting pushed closer and closer. He pushed her harder against the headboard as she came, choked lengthy screams and raspy breaths flexing the muscles of her flat stomach.

"Don't stop," she whimpered and rolled her head back against the headboard and arched her back off as much as the hand on her ribs would allow. "Oh," she groaned slowly and it was followed with several more moans and held back screams when she felt him come inside her, sending her on another orgasmic high while she listened to him swear and groan. His thrusts fell slower and he pulled her off the headboard so she was pressed against him and held tight in his arms for a rough kiss as he continued to slowly bring them down with smooth slow thrusts.

She relaxed against him and held her arms around his head and neck, moaning into his mouth in wonderful satisfaction as he continued to move inside her. It was a difficult task to carry on with their kiss for both of them were panting against the other but they both ignored that fact and continued through. When he stopped he pivoted and brought her with him, turning around and dropping them both on to the bed so Regina laid on her back and he braced himself on top of her and pulled himself out of her but continued to kiss her.

Her arms detangled from around his neck so only her fingers bent around his neck while he raised one of his to do the same around her and the other held his weight on the bed beside her waist. She let her legs loosen from around him and instead left one to lay flat while the other bent at the knee so her foot laid flat on the bed and her knee rested against his side. It was she who slowed the kiss back down and whether it was intentional on her part or not he enjoyed it all the same and made no move to change it.

He wanted to tell her he loved her, he wanted so badly to whisper it against soft pink lips that released soft puffs of visible breath in to the cold air around them. He wanted to tell her that perhaps he had made what some may call a mistake in marrying Snow and that he wanted her and her alone. He wanted to give his heart to her, place it in her sole care for the rest of his life because he trusted her and because he loved her. But he couldn't do that.

He couldn't because he knew it would scare her and that she would run and while he would chase her down, he wanted her to admit to herself what her glances and kisses already told him. That she loved him too. He didn't want to scare her, he wanted her to scare herself.

So he resorted to simply waiting and subtly pushing her to her answer. He was learning her and with every touch of his fingertips, with every breath against her jaw, tight embrace he caught her in, and every kind and gentle word or gesture toward her he had her giving him more of her heart and he couldn't stop. He wanted it all and no matter how much time he spent scolding himself and telling himself it was wrong he only found more reasons that it was right.

He wanted to break things and hit the walls until his knuckles bled because of the way he was hurting Snow. He felt nothing but rage and guilt toward his actions in that regard. But the way Regina was kissing him now and the way he was able to kiss her in return had him feeling a love he had never felt before and he would not dare give it up.

In a pause for air during their kiss she became suddenly fully aware of how cold the night air had become with a shiver vibrating her body, "I'm freezing," she whispered and he dropped his head down once more for a soft lingering kiss that left a happy sigh to be breathed out of her lungs before he ended it gently and got off of her. She sat up on her elbows and watched him reach off the side of the bed and lift his heavy leather jacket off the floor and offer it to her while his eyes lingered over her figure and she let them.

She took it with less hesitance than earlier but her reach forward was hesitant all the same as she sat up and slipped her arms in the sleeves, "thank you."

"You're welcome," he smiled and watched her hug it close around herself and cross her legs so her toes could get warm in the bends of her knees and the black leather covered the majority of her bare legs. Her hair was tousled and her hands were hidden in the sleeves as she made herself as small as she could and he couldn't help but smile a little more lovingly when she closed her eyes and nuzzled her nose in to the collar of his jacket only to settle there and take a deep breath of his smell lingering on the leather.

Such a precious woman. She didn't move when he swung his legs over the side of the bed and pulled his briefs and jeans back on and when he crawled back on and toward her she remained still and wonderfully small. He kissed her cheek only to find her skin a little cool to the touch and when she turned her head to look at him her eyes were soft and friendlier than he had ever seen them and a small smile that was almost shy curled her lips but was held back so as not to show her teeth.

She did not say anything and he cocked his head and smiled in return as he allowed his eyes to wander and memorize the special expression. Again the desire to tell her he loved her came over him but he held his tongue and instead hummed a gentle laugh that had her smile growing a little more just enough to squint the corners of her eyes. "You're beautiful," he whispered and reached forward to tuck a rogue curl behind her ear.

"I know," she whispered back and let her teeth show in a bright smile when he started to laugh softly.

"Good," he chuckled quietly and gave a small slow nod in his amusement.

"Thank you though," she laughed softly and leaned in a little closed to whisper playfully, "you always were one to point out the obvious," her voice danced across his lips before she closed her own around them in a feather light kiss that only lasted a few moments before she pulled away.

"I'm sure I'll catch you by surprise at some point," he whispered, wanting more of that unique softness he discovered in her by chance.

"I'll be waiting," she smirked and tucked her chin in a fraction with a subtle rock of her head.

He sat before her in silence while he studied her with a smile as the candlelight outside of the crate softened her features. Sitting there consumed in his oversized jacket simply melted his heart and when she shivered in the cold air he hummed softly and cocked his head, "you're so human."

Regina breathed out a quiet laugh and shook her head a little, "why is that so surprising?"

"I don't know," he whispered quietly and furrowed his brow a little as he shook his head. She remained quiet and a little amused as she watched him and waited for an answer, "I suppose you are too powerful to be simply human. Too powerful and...hard."

"I'm not hard," she whispered with a shake of her head.

"No you're not," he corrected quietly with a soft and tender tone, "you are just very...misunderstood," he offered and she seemed to accept that answer for she didn't say another word and let her defensive walls come back down. He was brought from his further thoughts on the topic when she shivered again, "being the gentleman that I am, I am not about to make you walk back to your bed in the freezing cold," she bowed her head and hummed a small nervous laugh and he continued with a smile, "and seeing as how you have taken my jacket, my source of extra warmth, would you be so kind as to stay with me tonight to keep me warm instead?"

She knew what he was doing. He was saving her from having to ask him herself, something she was too proud to do and she was conflicted by the offer. She did not want to need him but she also wanted to need him, "only because you asked so nicely," she smiled with a tilt of her head and he cupped her jaw in his hands to hold her in place as he moved in for a final kiss. Soft and gentle but far from chaste.


	15. Chapter 15

**Don't really have much to say right now hahaha but I hope you enjoy this chapter! And I am looking forward to the reviews so don't let me down! ;)**

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Anton walked quietly in to the dining room with breakfast for his guests in hand, placing his feet as silently as he could on the floor so as not to shake them awake. With the tip of his tongue caught between his lips in concentration he gently put down the plate next to the small crates and then ducked down to check and see if Regina was awake yet.

He quite enjoyed her which was something he did not really expect only because he swore to himself that he would never befriend a human again. When he found her bed to be empty though he frowned. Perhaps he should have expected them to sneak around and look for the compass behind his back. Humans lied, none of them should be trusted and one would think that he would have learned his lesson the first time. However before rage and betrayal truly got the chance to settle in him he caught glimpse of someone in David's bed and upon closer inspection he found both of them sound asleep and holding each other close.

He breathed out a sigh of relief and allowed for a smile to relax his face at the sight of them both still where he had left them. Sort of. The sudden realization that he was going to have to say goodbye to them and he was going to be alone again hit him hard and his smile was replaced with another frown. Sure he could keep the compass from them and make them stay longer but he didn't want to anger them and he didn't want to force them to go behind his back to find it themselves when they had stayed true to their word and did not harm him or anger him but instead made him laugh and forget about being lonely.

So he placed the compass just outside of the crate so they would see it and then he turned and walked away.

...

When David woke up it was with several heavy blankets up to his neck and an awake Regina in his arms watching him with wide dark eyes. "Hello," he smiled and took a long deep breath of the fresh morning air and stretched his muscles without hardly moving at all.

"Hello," she greeted in return and nuzzled the side of her head a little further in to his arm.

"You stay warm?" He breathed out and let his head drop heavier in to his pillow. She nodded against him as her reply and gave him a smile with it, "good. How long have you been awake?"

"I don't know. Doesn't matter."

"You don't talk much in the morning," he observed with a smile and she shrugged.

"I don't talk when I'm thinking."

"What are you thinking about?"

Regina smiled and shook her head, "I said I don't talk when I'm thinking."

"I'll be patient then," he smiled back and began playing with the soft ends of her hair that fell behind her shoulders. He didn't speak nor did he think, he simply watched her and let his smile grow when she shrugged her shoulders up so she could bury her nose back in to the collar of the jacket to keep it warm.

She wanted to stay there, she didn't want to go back out in to the cold that awaited outside of his arms. Both metaphorically and physically. He was safe, he was warm, and he allowed her to use her heart but if that use went without consequence she didn't yet know but she doubted it wouldn't. When it came to herself no matters of the heart went unpunished be them good or evil.

She didn't know what this was though...why he had stayed...she knew why she stayed. She stayed because she was practically helpless against any form of affection or love when it was directed her way. But as to why he kept coming back to her, kept fighting for her, she hadn't the slightest clue. Or perhaps she did and she was ignoring it, turning a blind eye because she didn't want to know why he stayed and why he desired to hold her so close and why with every kiss he put so much effort in to make it feel like more than just a kiss. Unless he wasn't putting effort in and that was simply what it felt like to kiss him.

She didn't exactly appreciate that thought. That he, perhaps, had begun to love her...that was not okay. She couldn't even find it in herself to ask him if he did or not for she was nervous for either answer and didn't really want either of them.

Without a word she sat up straight and he followed suit a moment later while he watched her with curious blue eyes. She turned her head to look him up and down and after a few seconds of doing so she looked away and swung her legs off the edge of the bed and stood up to wander the crate in search of her shirt and panties. She bent down to pick up the discarded black lace and then reached a little further forward to take a corner of her white shirt between her middle and pointer finger. When she stood back up she found her back to be pressed up against his chest and she tensed, that tension only growing when his hands found her hips and his mouth met her ear.

He enjoyed feeling her body through his large leather jacket more than he thought he would and when his slow moving hands settled around her waist after starting at her hips and traveling up her ribs he spoke quietly in to her ear, "you need to stop thinking so much. Your thoughts are making you worry."

She tried to stay grounded, she really did, but when he left a soft lingering kiss on the pulse point on her neck all was forgotten and her eyes fluttered shut as she relaxed against him with a satisfied moan and slightly hated herself for it, "I've stopped."

"Good," he approved quietly and kissed her neck once more.

...

"Hey! You!" She yelled with her hands on her hips and an unimpressed cock of her head. Anton jumped a little and turned around to look down at them and he opened his mouth to talk but she cut him short, "you think we are this selfish?" She questioned and lifted the compass so it dangled on the chain off her fingertips, "that we would take this and be on our merry way without so much as a thank you or a farewell? Then you go and hide away? Really you think that little of us? ...pun unintended or whatever," she smirked and David breathed out a chuckle behind her.

"I'm sorry."

"As you should be!" She scolded and then pushed her arm out behind her, "now that we have found you in this enormous place would you be so kind as to join us back in the dining room so we may not get pneumonia and die?"

Anton breathed out a laugh and nodded at the wonderfully temperamental brunette, "of course."

"Thank you."

...

"You are beginning to look homeless, Charming."

"Well I don't have a razor so you're going to have to deal it up darling," he grinned and she rolled her eyes.

"We have two daggers. You can't manage with one of those?" She raised an eyebrow and smirked as she tucked her legs up beside her.

"But it's harder that way. And I don't have a mirror."

"It's not that hard," she chuckled and shook her head.

"You do it then!"

"Alright," she shrugged and stood up to retrieve the dagger. She was expecting him to back down and keep her from literally putting a blade against his throat but when she snatched up her dagger with her fingertips and stopped in front of him he was smiling up at her and laughing quietly. With a flick of her head to remove the hair from her eyes she lowered herself to her knees and straddled his lap, moving in close so she could make sure she wouldn't cut him.

"So this place you two are from? What is it called."

"Storybrooke," she answered and paused before bringing the cold blade in to contact with David's face just to give him another chance to change his mind. With a smile he turned his head a little to give her a better angle to start at and held his hands around the back of her knees so she carefully moved the blade down over his stubble, feeling more than delighted that he allowed his trust to fall in her, "it is a town that is part of a very large world."

"How far away is it?"

"A good portal jump away," she smiled and removed the metal from his chin only to bring it back up to his cheek again.

"And your son?" He asked and caught the beginnings of a frown before she hid it.

"He's still there. He's a good boy I'm sure he's doing just fine without me. He's very clever."

"Pretty sure he gets that from you," David smirked and she pulled the dagger away from is face and widened her eyes in playful irritation as she nodded.

"Do you want me to cut you?"

"No," he laughed and shook his head.

"Then stop talking," she instructed and allowed him to let out another laugh before she brought the dagger back to his face with a smile curling one corner of her mouth.

"You guys are awesome," Anton chuckled and folded his arms on the table and rested his chin on the back of his hands.

"Well you're not so bad yourself," she smiled but kept her focus on David's face as she tilted his head the up a fraction with her fingers underneath his chin unintentionally making him smile. "You weren't even all that bad when you were crushing David," she grinned and David's smile grew in to a laugh, "stop moving," she scolded light heartedly.

"You're doing a good job," he smiled and turned his head when her soft fingers asked for the motion.

"Glad to hear it," she chuckled and made quick work of his cheek and jaw before moving to his upper lip and chin. She was aware of his thumbs moving back and forth over the sides of her thighs above her knees but she did not pay any mind to the affection behind the gesture. The thought that there was affection in the movement truly didn't even cross her mind. She pushed his chin up a little higher and placed the sharp edge of the dagger against his jugular, "nervous?"

He smiled and she laughed under her breath as she moved the blade up over his skin, "should I be?"

Regina hummed thoughtfully and watched the metal move his skin, "perhaps a little," she smirked and flicked the blade off of his chin. He blinked slowly with an amused laugh as he levelled his head again so he could look her in the eye while she checked for any spots she missed. Placing the dagger on the tabletop they sat on, she moved her hands up to feel for any missed spots that her eyes couldn't see and she found herself smiling at him when he grinned at the contact, "much better."

"Thank you," he nodded and then leaned in for a quick stolen kiss. Just a mere peck on her lips that had her immediately tensing but he couldn't help himself. She stared at him with wide stunned eyes and he smiled as though nothing happened, "what?"

"...nothing," she shook her head clear and cursed the burn that was rising to her cheeks. It had been far too long since someone had given her a kiss like that. One of affection and perhaps love rather than desire and lust. It made her feel good.

He could only adore her when she tried to bite down the smile that wished to match the life in her eyes and the slight blush to her cheeks. Wonderfully giddy, she shrugged her shoulders up and then dropped them as she bowed her head when she was unsuccessful in hiding and her smile grew to show her teeth.

He made a mental note as he smiled widely down at her and that was to take consideration in the smaller things for her and toward her. If a quick chaste kiss could get him such a beautifully heartwarming reaction then what would holding her hand do? Writing her a note in the morning if he could not be there when she awoke? Giving her a flower? He had a whole arsenal of gestures at his disposal and he couldn't wait to use them.

"You guys are awesome," he repeated himself with a smile but neither of them responded, too caught up in the other to even glance his way.

...

"I feel bad for leaving him up there all alone..."

"I'm sure he'll be alright," he reassured as he happily climbed down the beanstalk with the ground a safe distance below them. If he were to fall now there would be little if any injury and that allowed him to relax.

"It isn't okay to be alone for so long," she frowned and looked up the beanstalk as she continued downward.

"Well," he stretched down for a secure foothold and when he found one he continued, "he did have a cutting from the bean crop left. Perhaps when he finds a good place to start a new crop he'll take a vacation and find some more giant folk."

"Perhaps..."

He smiled at her as she continued down with troubled thoughts, "he did offer."

"I know," she sighed and shook her head, "but we can't wait that long. Who knows how long it would take to find suitable land and then wait for the plant to actually grow...we couldn't stay that long."

"I'm sure I could manage," he smiled at her and she looked up at him with an expression portraying no single emotion. There was no smile though and she looked back down to watch her feet.

"It only would have been harder to say goodbye anyway."

"I suppose that's true," he nodded and then checked to see how high he was from the ground before he jumped off the stalk and waited for her to join him, "besides I don't particularly want to make that climb ever again."

Regina chuckled under her breath and stepped down from the beanstalk and onto flat ground, "may I see the compass?"

"What?"

"The compass," she insisted with her hand out between the both of them in a request for him to place it in her hand, "may I see it?"

He could just feel the blood drain from his face, "I don't have it."

"...what do you mean you don't have it?!"

"I gave it to you!"

"You did no such thing!"

"Yes I did!" He panicked as he checked all of his pockets, patting them down and pushing his hands in each one multiple times, "I swear I gave it to you!" He spun around and looked on the ground for the metal in the dirt as he continued checking all of his pockets once more. He stopped at the sound of low laughter and after a moment's pause he spun back around to find Regina grinning madly and dangling the compass on its chain from her fingertips.

"That's not funny."

"Oh I think it's rather hilarious," she cocked her head and grinned as she began swaying the compass a little.

"That's cause you have a twisted sense of humour," she only laughed through her toothy grin at him, "give me that!" He snatched the compass from her with a laugh and gave it a quick look over before pushing it in to his jeans pocket, "making me think we had to climb up that god damned beanstalk again," he grumbled under his breath in a manner that made the words hard to decipher. But she was a clever woman.

"I doubt it'd be as bad as the first time," she shrugged and raised her eyebrows as she looked up at him with her lips barely kept closed in a smile.

"I'm not about to go testing your theory," he growled playfully and lunged forward for her waist and she let out a small yelp through her laughter as she jumped away from his grasp and took off running with him hot on her heels. They didn't make it very far though before Regina planted her feet in to the soil with a startled gasp and he bumped in to her with his attempt to stop in time.

"I haven't heard you laugh like that in ages," she began softly and smiled a little. Regina simply stared back at her with wildly nervous eyes and the man behind her looked uneasy as well but still held his hands around her waist in quite a protective manner.

"Don't move anywhere until I come find you," she instructed quietly over her shoulder but held her mother's eye contact as her heart skipped frantically in her chest.

"What? No!"

Despite his protests Cora watched him disappear in her daughter's purple smoke behind her, "that wasn't necessary."

"Yes it was."

"I am not going to hurt you darling."

Regina stared at her for a little while and when she felt her throat start to tighten with swallowed tears she started to laugh, "you know I almost believe that," she nodded and ran her tongue over her teeth while her eyes burned with tears she didn't want to show.

"Regina-"

"Why are you here? What do you want? What more could you possibly want from me!?"

Cora shook her head and took a step forward only to have Regina take one back and hold her chin a little higher. She couldn't help but smile if only just a little at the sight of something she had drilled in to her head when she was younger. "I've missed you," she confessed quietly.

"You've missed me?" She rocked her head on her shoulders cynically, her lips tight with heartbreak as a tear rolled down her cheek, "you've missed me!?" She repeated bitterly with the beginnings of a snarl curling back her lip, "what," she choked out, suddenly finding it hard to breathe as more tears fell, "what is that!?"

"It's the truth."

"Is it though!? After everything you have told me in the past has turned out to be some master plan of yours how am I supposed to believe you now!?"

"I know I have done wrong by you, Regina," she nodded and heard her voice run a little thick with sorrow and self hatred at the tears falling down her daughter's face, "please I just want another chance. I want to be better for you."

"I have been giving you second chances my entire life," she growled through bared teeth and leaned forward just a little, "I will not give you another one. I am _done_." Cora reached forward once more and opened her mouth to speak but Regina ripped her arm away and began yelling instead, "do not touch me! This is unhealthy mother! My entire _life_ I wanted your love and your pride in me and every time I believed I had it it would simply turn out that you were playing a part, forcing me in to a life I never wanted, playing games with my life so that I could live the one you had wanted for yourself but never got!"

"I know," she admitted with a solemn nod of her head, "it wasn't fair to you and I am sorry Regina, I truly am."

"Then _why_ mother?" She begged, allowing one breath be heard in a quiet cry between questions, "why couldn't you just let me go? You knew I didn't want this life, you knew I didn't want to be queen, you knew I would never be happy, you knew I wanted to be with Daniel so why mother? Why did you kill my only friend? Why did you kill the man I loved with all of my heart?"

Cora shook her head and looked to the ground, unable to hold Regina's awfully heart wrenching gaze, "because I knew you could do better than a stable boy."

"I didn't want better," she whispered with a shake of her head as new tears fell.

"You didn't know what you wanted," she replied quietly and hesitantly looked back up.

"I knew exactly what I wanted! And I had it! I had everything I wanted! I had love, I had happiness, I didn't need nor want anything more. To this _day_ that is all I want and to this day I have not caught more than a glimpse of it since you took it from me!"

"My intentions were not to make you unhappy."

"Your _intentions_ were _selfish_," she hissed as she felt her heart break and snap with her harsh words to the woman she had only ever wanted love from but had only received pain.

"Yes they were," she agreed quietly, the guilt of what she had caused beginning to churn her stomach and bring tears to her own eyes, "I never should have made you marry the king," she whispered and Regina closed her eyes and began shaking but it was not shaking that should be paired with tears of any sort. It looked to be stemmed more from fear than anything else and it confused her. "I understand why you rid yourself of me and I do not hold that against you my darling daughter," she shook her head and managed to get half a step closer to her before Regina opened her eyes for more tears to fall.

"The life of a wife of a stable boy would have been hard and unfitting for a woman such as yourself. I could not let you live the life I did when I knew you could have a better one."

"I would have taken that life over the one I lived any day," she whispered furiously.

Cora shook her head and blinked slowly, "you lived well darling. You are a queen and you have everything at your disposal, every comfort you could possibly hope for. All of the power in the world at your disposal. How do you not see that despite the king not truly loving you, you were taken care of and given everything?"

"He raped me!" She screamed, her temper finally snapping in hearing the things she should have been grateful for. She did not miss the way her mother flinched and stopped breathing as her small smile immediately vanished. Her tears streamed down her face and her voice was tense and shaky with the cries she barely held back so she could get her words out instead, "over and over and over again he asked me to his room! I eventually gave up fighting him because I learned that when I fought he only hurt me more!

"I was eighteen! Leopold was practically three times my age and to him I was nothing more than a babysitter for his daughter that he didn't have to pay for and a doll he could dress up as his wife and fuck until he was satisfied only send me back when he was finished! Rumplestiltskin's was the _only_ shoulder I had to cry on, the only one I had to help me and keep me from jumping off a god damn turret! You were my mother! _You_ were supposed to protect me! _You_ were supposed to keep me safe! _You_ were supposed to be the one at my side, the one I could run to when I was scared and alone! But you threw me to the wolves because you thought power was more important than your own daughter!" She screamed and cried because she could not stop the memories from flashing behind her eyes and making her hurt and panic.

She could barely see her mother through her tears and her jaw was beginning to ache from the tension she kept the muscles in. From what she could see through her tears there was a tear that rolled down Cora's cheek, "Leopold was _not_ the man he was known to be and contrary to popular belief I did not have him killed so I could take the kingdom, I had him killed so that I no longer had to be frightened at night by the possibility of being requested in his chambers. I had him killed so I could sleep without the aid of magic! And so help me if you say that Leopold's cruelty was just a price I should have been happy to pay then I will show you _exactly_ what I should have been happy about!" She bellowed and brought a memory to her palm, her fingers bent stiffly with rage and pain as her tears fell from her eyes.

"No," Cora whispered and shook her head as her stomach twisted in disgust and flooded with even more guilt. She was at a loss for words and let another tear fall down her cheek, "no...I..." She watched the memory dissipate from Regina's shaking hand. "Regina-" she took a step forward with her arms outstretched a little but Regina stepped back and closed her eyes only to bow her head and cry helplessly despite her efforts to remain silent and strong.

What was left in her chest in place of her heart ached stronger than ever and she quickly took advantage of Regina's closed eyes and silently stepped up to her and raised her hands to gently hold either side of her daughter's face, "I have ruined you," she whispered and frowned as another tear fell at Regina turning her head in to her right hand as her beautiful face creased with further conflict and pain.

"I am so sorry," she cried slowly and shook her head while her daughter's tears rolled in to her aged hands, "please," she begged in a whisper, "let me do better."

Regina shook her head in refusal, her heart aching and wishing to say yes but her experience showing her better, "no," she whispered slowly and savoured her mother's gentle touch.

"Please," she cried quietly but Regina simply continued to shake her head. "Please," she whispered once more before Regina backed out of her hold and her hands were left empty save for Regina's tears, "Regina?" She didn't want to be alone anymore. She wanted someone with the ability to love her and she knew her dear daughter could love her.

She didn't open her eyes for she knew that if she did she wouldn't be able to follow through and would instead fall back in to Cora's open arms, "no," she whispered and then turned on her heels and walked away with hurried steps and a hand over her mouth to further quiet her cries as she left her mother standing alone and quietly pleading her to come back.


	16. Chapter 16

**New record for reviews on a single chapter in this story! Awesomesauce! Keep it up! It's so exciting! As for Cora yes she was entirely sincere in the last chapter and she will be in future encounters as well. No she does not have a heart but there's gotta be something there she feels for her daughter and she's trying to work it out. I'm having a great ol' time playing with the humanity in the "villains" in this story. Now it is time for David to worm his way a little deeper in to our dear Regina's heart :) As for the ending I will most certainly be following through with that in a later chapter. Enjoy! And tell me what you think!**

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He was pacing now. He had previously been arguing with himself whether he should sit or stand, make a fire or not make a fire and after trying and failing to make a fire he opted for pacing back and forth. He checked his phone for the time more than he would like to admit and it had been nearly four hours since she had smoked him away without any explanation as to why and only instructions to stay put. He was nervous. Was she hurt? Was she dead? Should he go look for her now? Where the was he? What was she so scared of? Why did she smoke him away and leave herself to fend off whoever that woman was? Her mother perhaps?

With a long tense sigh he rubbed his hands over his face and through his hair, glancing at the movement in the shadows only to do a double take and find the brunette walking slowly toward him. "Regina!" He ran toward her but she didn't look at him and instead kept her eyes to the ground as he fussed over her, looking for any injury. He didn't know her injury could not be physically seen. When he looked more closely at her face he noticed her eyes had a reddish hue and were just the slightest bit puffy, "you've been crying..."

She nodded and felt his hands stop fussing over her and simply hold her arms just beneath her shoulders, "yes," she whispered and one of his thumbs moved slowly back and forth over her arm, "I'm sorry I took so long to come get you. I just needed some...time," she swallowed away the tightness in her throat and resisted the urge to collapse in to him.

David nodded and tried to catch her eye when she turned her head a little and dropped her eyes to the ground beside their feet, "are you alright?"

Regina furrowed her brow and slowly began shaking her head, "no actually," she whispered, the whole concept of admitting such a thing being unheard of but she was so tired of holding everything in, "I am not alright."

She looked up at him a little confused and he supposed it was because of her confession to him. The ball was in his court now and she stood in front of him waiting on edge to see what he would do with it, if he would hurt her or find a way to comfort her without scaring her off. Something had hurt her and perhaps it was even herself and when he caught glimpse of how her eyes started to pool with tears before she bowed her head and folded her arms protectively over her chest he felt a strong ache in his own heart.

"Come here," he whispered and took hold of one of her folded forearms and pulled her toward him, entirely ignoring the fact that she planted her feet and leaned away to try and keep him from doing so. He wrapped his arms around her anyway and tucked her head under his to keep it against his chest. She remained tense and stubborn for a long while but eventually she let the air from her lungs out in a long shaky breath against him and moved her hands so they rested flat against his chest on either side of her head.

He felt her weight against him increase as she relaxed and the smallest of smiles curled his mouth when she took a deep breath and nuzzled the side of her head against his chest and allowed her eyes to fall shut. Keeping his right arm wrapped tightly around her waist he lifted his left and let his hand fall softly over the small hand over his heart and curled his fingers around it. Moving his thumb back and forth over her knuckles he began to slowly and subtly sway them back and forth, dancing to the silence around them.

When their slow swaying was enough to add footsteps to compensate the movement he was happy to feel her step with him. They were just small steps, barely large enough to even be considered a step really but he enjoyed it, "who is she?"

She did not give him an answer right away because she wasn't quite ready to open up about that topic and he did not ask in a manner of urgency or demand but instead a gentle offer for her to speak and be truly listened to. She believed he really could go forever without an answer to his question and he would be perfectly content. But she had a sore heart that wanted to trust him with anything, "my mother," she whispered and felt a tear roll down her cheek without warning.

He frowned as he lowered his head to rest against hers and closed his eyes, his mouth above her ear so he never needed to raise his voice any higher than a gentle whisper, "I'm listening," he offered softly and felt her face contort against his chest as she fought herself. He wanted to hear her, he wanted her to pour her heart and soul out to him, he wanted to know how she thought, he wanted to know how she worked. All were things he couldn't have cared less about in the past but now wanted more than anything.

Someone to listen to her. She had wanted that almost more than life itself countless times throughout her life and she was having a difficult time accepting what he was giving her. It was difficult for her to wrap her head around the fact that his offer to listen to her was not a trap or a ploy but rather a lifeline of sorts to catch her from falling.

"Since I was just a little girl I have wanted my mother's love," she started quietly with her tears burning behind closed eyes and rolling slowly down her cheeks, "I tried my very hardest to earn her approval and the number of times she has genuinely smiled at me or praised me can be counted on one hand and I relive them too often. I tried and I tried and I tried..." She whispered and shook her head slowly against him and he remained silent and listening.

"Magic was her choice in discipline and there was nothing my father or I could do about it. The marks she left cannot be seen but there are plenty. She was and still is the most manipulative woman I have ever known. I have become her in more ways than I hoped and I absolutely _hate_ myself for it," she whispered slowly with a shake of her head.

She turned her head into his chest so her forehead and the bridge of her nose pushed against him as he held her close and continued to sway them, "I promised myself years ago that I would not fall in to her footsteps, that I would not ever use magic because magic ruined lives, tore apart families, and allowed for too much power to be held in a person's hand. To me magic was evil and I wanted no part of it. But here I stand," she pushed her head further in to his chest and whimpered quietly as her tears fell down her cheeks, "a monster."

She was not comforted by his arm wrapping tighter around her middle nor was she comforted by his hand squeezing hers a little tighter or by the way he pushed his head against hers as she breathed out a quiet but no less painful cry in to the night air. "I have become the woman I hate. I am the woman everyone hates, the one that slinks through the darkness I have learned to call home, the one who will rip a heart out of a chest without batting an eye, I am the reason people watch their back when they are alone and in the shadows, I am the threat mothers use when their child will not obey, I am feared by all and loved by no one."

Her body hurt and her heart throbbed in her chest and still David remained silent as he swayed them and held her. He said nothing pertaining his tear dampened shirt and nothing about her shaky tired voice or the words and thoughts she only had herself to hear in the past. He simply listened just as he said and she could not express her gratefulness for such a gift. "I have become my mother and that was my greatest fear."

She shook her head and then turned it back so the side of her face rested against his chest, "I love my mother because she is my mother. All I want is for her to return that love I have been craving my entire life...but she will never love me. She is incapable of such a thing," despite how much she wished it false, a person without their heart in their chest could not love. At least not properly, not in the way love should be felt.

"She claims she wants to do better but I cannot trust her. I want to trust her, I want to give her another chance," her small whisper was defeated and full of sorrow as she gave a small shake of her head and felt her heart take another stab, "but she hurts me. I am tired of her yanking on my chain, coaxing me out in to the open with the promise of love only to be kicked and tossed carelessly in to the dark."

She frowned against him and opened her eyes to focus on their hands resting over his heart with only the fading sun and rising moon to offer light, "I am tired of being a pawn for everyone's game but my own," she whispered as her tears fell from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She had nothing left to say and her mind was left to be as calm as it could be with the rest of her worries and fears and thoughts locked away.

Still he remained silent and the swaying he led was beautifully mind numbing. The movement allowed her to relax heavier in to him now that she had gotten what she had to say off her chest. She blinked slowly and more tears fell as she studied his large hand consume her smaller one with warmth and safety while the arm around her back did the same. "A penny for your thoughts?" She whispered timidly and cautiously moved her thumb over his fingers curling around her hand.

"You want to hear them?" He asked, whispering above her ear as he watched her thumb move.

"...yes."

"I think you are angry at the world and rightfully so," he started quietly and continued to sway them because he knew it soothed her and he loved having her close, "I think your mother is rather cruel and that no son or daughter should have to work so hard for so little love from their mother. But most importantly you are only a monster," he stopped swaying and he lifted his hand from hers to rest the side of his finger along the bottom of her chin to tilt her head up so she would look at him, "because you are too scared to take off the armour that portrays you as such."

He looked steadily in to her watery brown eyes as they flicked back and forth between his, soaking in every word he spoke. He took a quiet breath and followed his hand with his eyes as it moved from her chin and rested it carefully over her heart, her chest bouncing slightly with a cry she held back. "Inside," he looked back up to find her stating right at him having not looked down as he had, "you are good," his heart ached the very instant he caught sight of the tears that started to fall once again, "I truly believe that."

"Thank you," she whispered and then felt her shoulders vibrate with another cry she forced down. She had always wanted someone else to see that she was good. She knew she was inside but she had given up trying to prove it because it was pointless and exhausting. But to hear those words from Prince Charming of all people...she had no words.

With a quiet sniff she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder and turned it so she could overwhelm her senses with his smell as she buried her nose in to his neck. Her fingers of one hand moved slowly through his hair as his arms wound securely around her and he turned in face in to her hair and she felt loved. For the first time in too long she felt loved. Even if it wasn't really and truly there, she felt loved.

Perhaps she was simply putting too much emotion and too much thought in. He was her friend and she had not yet gotten used to having someone help her to be better or having someone to talk to who would listen. She was not used to having someone. His offer to play things out still stood clear in her mind and while she had not had a proper friend or lover since Daniel she did not believe that the way her heart longed for David's touch was attached to merely friendship. Not with the way she desired to kiss him as he held her close and tight in his arms, not with the way her heart jumped when he gave her affection in its simplest form, not with the way she worried so much for his safety.

But did she want to go down that road when she knew the end would result with her crying on the floor alone? Would the time spent with him be worth it when she lost him to Snow in the end? Would agreeing to fall for him only to lose him be more worthwhile than keeping him as a friend indefinitely? Perhaps...perhaps not.

Without loosening her arms she lifted her head from his shoulder and looked him in they eye for a moment only to drop her eyes down to his mouth. She moved in slowly, her eyes fluttering shut a mere moment before their lips touched and even at the contact she did not close her parted lips around his. Instead she played with pressure from featherlight to nonexistent as she tried to make up her mind. Slowly she swivelled her head to tilt the other way and built the courage to follow through with a kiss.

Her thumb moved slowly through his short as she kissed him softly and carefully. It was a different kiss than the others and it was an important one but he seemed to know that for he was there for her with every motion but did not once attempt to take the control from her. Her heart felt light in her chest as it fluttered irregularly and that is what she wanted to feel. She wanted to feel special and feel loved and she really just wanted to feel. Wonderful shivers flew under her skin and up and down her spine when she made light contact with his tongue and her own as she closed her mouth around his bottom lip.

She pulled away slowly and hovered over his mouth for a little while just to feel his breath across her mouth and jaw. Her fingertips drew slow invisible nervous patterns in his hair as she worked through her thoughts. She gave up quickly however because the amount of thoughts racing through her head was too large and she decided to give her heart a break, "be gentle with me," she pleaded quietly and watched his mouth lift in to a small smile before she closed her eyes and buried her nose back in to his neck.

Maybe, just maybe...she was wrong.

...

She laid on her side in David's arms wide awake and troubled. When he had fallen asleep she found her mind to run wild with things left unsaid but they were not things to be said to David. Slowly and carefully she moved her hand to the front pocket of his jeans and slipped her hand inside as she watched his face for any change in case he were to wake up. He remained deep in his sleep however and with his phone in her hand she carefully detangled herself from his arms and pushed herself to her feet.

Her destination was not known but she had to get far enough away not to wake David. So she walked through the dark until she found a large boulder with a height that would be at her eye level if she were to sit down. So sit down she did and when she was comfortable and finished mindlessly rolling the phone between her fingertips she turned it on and started a video.

She rested the phone horizontally on the rock and when it was balanced she brought a soft blueish light to her palm and suspended it in midair so that her face would be lit up for the camera and she would have the use of her hands as she spoke. It floated at eye level beside her head and she adjusted her weight a little as she looked in to the camera of the phone and smiled a small sad smile, "hello Henry."


	17. Chapter 17

**Why do I have to be so busy on my week off! Agh! Lol oh well :/ a little fun and games and some emotions breaking out of their cage :) I hope you all enjoy it! And if you want anything to be written in this story, a particular scene or whatever let me know and if I like I tans can make it fit I'll stick it in here :) **

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"David," she half whined she stomped her foot a little as she hung her head back irritably and pivoted to face him when she heard him sigh and drop down behind her.

"I think we should take a break."

"David we haven't even been walking for more than three hours."

"Today!"

Regina rolled her eyes and walked up to where he sat on a large log but she did not sit with him and instead stood in front of him with her hands on her hips, "so what you're just going to sit here for the rest of the day? We are not going to get anywhere fast if we travel merely three hours a day from here on out."

"I think we should take a couple days to just relax and enjoy the fact that we are back home."

"This is not my home," she snapped a little too harshly but then silently apologized with a shift of her weight and a softer expression.

David smiled up at her with a cock of his head, "it was mine though. And as much as I want to get back to Storybrooke I am quite enjoying it here right now."

Regina stared at him with her jaw crooked in thought as he looked back at her with hopeful blue eyes. Perhaps she was not being fair. As much as she wished to rid herself of her past she knew he missed his and she truly didn't consider that perhaps unlike herself he did miss this damned forest. He had done so much for her, it wouldn't kill her to spend an extra couple of days there. So she caved with a long huff and lifted a hand from one of her hips and waved it around a little, "so what? We are playing house now?"

David beamed up at her but she didn't smile back. Not really anyway. But he did see the way her eyes lit up at his excitement, "no we don't have to play house," he chuckled with a shake of his head and then shrugged nonchalantly with a smile, "but I certainly don't loathe the thought." She watched him through guarded eyes and try as he might he could not read the thoughts that were going through her head at his comment, "besides I'd like to get to know you for you and I know that the very moment we step foot in the streets of Storybrooke you are going to bring out your claws and your teeth. You aren't going to let anybody in you don't trust and you do not trust anyone over there. I want to be the one who gets to know you," he smiled up at her and her expression remained carefully guarded.

To be known...how terribly tempting a thought. It felt like there was a string attached to her aching heart and he was pulling her toward him and pulling hard. She was finding it quite difficult actually to keep her feet in place and keep from following that strong tug right in to him. She craved the soft touch his fingers provided against her jaw when they were close enough to breathe the same breath, she wanted to have him close just to have him close, she wanted him to tempt her with the idea of a kiss as he hovered over her parted lips but never followed through with one.

She yearned for intimacy with him and not necessarily sexually. Every soft touch, every gentle breath across her skin, every tender whisper, every smile she felt curl his lips when he just skimmed them over her own, she wanted it all and more. She wanted it so bad she felt her chest constrict with the strong desire to cry.

With a shake of her head she cleared the wishful thinking from her thoughts. She had fooled herself in to a life with him deep enough. She needn't fall any further. It would only hurt more in the end, "well I'm afraid you are going to have to buck up and walk a little more until we find clean running water. Then we'll stop."

David reached forward and pulled her in by her hips, happy to feel practically no resistance in her slow steps toward him. "Deal," he smiled and looked up at her as he left a kiss on her stomach to which she smiled at. Just a small curl of her lips that she tried to hide from him but it only had him wrapping his arms slowly around her waist and underneath the bow and quiver slung across her body.

He could only smile when she lifted her hands to his face, one curling around the nape of his neck as her thumb rested in the corner of his jaw while the fingertips of the other traced over his brow and cheekbone. "Kiss me," he grinned and she hummed a soft laugh as her dark eyes followed her fingertips, "I know you want to," he teased and was happily silenced when she shrunk down and caught him in a kiss with her soft hands still holding him in place.

He smiled against her mouth and it caused her to do the same and kiss him with a light playfulness that allowed her heart to flutter out of control. With her forbidden wishes of closeness and tenderness still present in the back of her mind she found herself to be kissing him slower and softer and her nerves were sent haywire when he reciprocated in kind.

His smile faded slowly at the change in atmosphere between them and he found himself falling harder for her when she responded so eagerly to softness. She inched closer to him until her legs hit the log he sat on and her front was pressed against his only they weren't pressed as firmly together as they had been in past kisses shared. She wasn't looking for heat and passion she was looking for close and loving tenderness and he was more than willing to oblige.

He unwound his arms from around her narrow waist and instead used his hands to hold her in place by her hips. Her mouth was soft against his with every slow and savouring movement and her fingers moved lightly over his jaw and through his short hair, touching him as she kissed him. With every passing moment her fell more in love with her, every touch and every look had his heart racing and left his breath stolen. He moved his hands up her sides lightly and encouraged her closer to him to which she responded with pushing her hips closer to him and running her fingertips through his hair above his ear and tilting her head down a little further to catch his bottom lip between both of hers.

Without breaking their soft slow kiss he carefully stood up from the log so he was again taller than her. He kept one hand spread out on the small of her back to hold her in place against him while he moved the other up her side over her ribs and then her arm and then to her head. As his fingertips trailed softly across her cheek and jaw and in to her hair he felt her slip. For only a moment she lost control of herself, caught up in the moment and let all of her defenses crumble away and he felt her love him. Only a moment, just a split second he felt an overwhelming feeling of love.

It felt like a hard hit to the chest, a force that knocked the air from his lungs as she simply melted in to his touch and purred against his mouth. But a moment is just a moment and as soon as it had come it was gone and she all but leapt out of his arms and turned her back to him before walking away. He watched her walk away and run a slow tense hand through her hair as she did and he tried his best to catch his breath. He wanted more of that powerful sensation. It was a love he had never felt before and he was more determined than ever to convince her to give in to it again.

Regina rolled her lips in to her mouth as she walked forward with her eyes closed and a hand back in her hair. She should have stopped the kiss sooner, she never should have let it go any further than the simple chaste kiss she had planned on giving. She had felt herself starting to slip away and she should have had the sense to stop there but no she let herself fall instead. She gave her head a quick and subtle shake as her heart pounded against its cage in search of that incredible freedom it had achieved only seconds beforehand and only for one thrilling moment.

She could feel the tears pricking her closed eyes as she walked away from him with slow steps and took long deep breaths to try and calm herself down. It was hard to walk away when all she ever wanted was right behind her. She couldn't give in though, she had to stay strong. She knew she wouldn't be able to handle another break in her heart. She just couldn't.

"There is a uh...river," she stopped walking and swallowed as she shook her head to rid her voice of its subtle quiver, "maybe a half hour ahead of us," she could hear him walking up behind her but she couldn't bring herself to open her eyes let alone turn and look at him. She agreed to play things out with him...she did not agree to fall in love with him. "The water is deep and clear and therefore great for-" her voice was taken from her when he wrapped his arms slowly around her middle and he pressed his warm body against her back as he lowered his head so his mouth was at her temple, "swimming," she finished in a breathy whisper and found herself leaning back in to him and holding her hands over his as she turned her head toward his but kept her eyes closed.

David slowly tilted his head down so his nose brushed against the side of her face as he looked to find her neck, "you make me happy," he whispered and left a soft kiss on her neck as he heard her breath catch in her throat.

Her mouth was open as though to speak but she had no words and instead felt a tear roll quickly down her cheek. She wouldn't, she couldn't. _Anyone_ but him.

...

David watched her drop her dagger and the bow and quiver to the ground with a long sigh as she approached the bank at a bend in the river. The sun was hot now that they were out of the shade of the trees and it had him pulling off his leather jacket and dropping it with the bow and quiver as well as tossing the phone and his dagger in the pile before walking up beside her. She had remained rather quiet on their last stretch to the river and he really couldn't blame her. They both had a lot on their mind.

"That is really clear," he raised his eyebrows in surprise as he looked in to the water only to find he could see right to the bottom, "how deep is it right here?"

Regina shrugged and folded her arms across her chest as she avoided eye contact by staring in to the water, "deep," she offered and then gasped when large arms suddenly wrapped around her waist and he began pulling her down with him, "David!" She shrieked and gripped on to his shirt as they fell the short height from the river bank and in to the cool clear water. The current was slow and not difficult to swim against as she pushed herself off the riverbed and burst up through the surface of the water for air only to be followed by David shortly after.

She glared at him as she treaded water but he only laughed at her, "really?"

"Mhm," he grinned as he stopped swimming against the current and floated the small distance down to her to hold her glare a little longer, matching her irritation with amusement. Drops of water settled on her face and her dark hair was slicked back from the water and her beauty still made him smile despite the displeasure clear in her expression. He flicked his eyes back and forth between her own only to have them narrow at him before widening comically when he pulled her down underneath the water once more.

"That's it!" She yelled as she splashed back to the surface and pushed his head underwater and climbed on to his back with her irritation fading in to laughter. He was laughing happily when he rose back up for air but she only pushed him back under to which he retaliated with sinking further under the water, taking her with him and peeling her off his back and throwing her away from him once they were above the surface again.

She yelped and flailed during her momentary flight but hit the water laughing and quickly swam back up to him and wrapped her legs around his waist as she pulled hard on the collar of his shirt to send him off balance and fall face first in to the water as she fell backwards with him. The cooler temperature of the water felt wonderful paired with the heat of the sun and the smile on her face when he took advantage of their position underwater and pulled her head in to kiss her. He was smiling against her mouth as they floated back up and when they resurfaced they broke the kiss but stayed close, their foreheads resting against each other as they laughed happily and held each other close.

"I'm feeling kind of bad," he chuckled as he held his hands around her waist and she hummed with the expectation of an apology from him, "I should have asked you if you could swim."

"Oh you little-!" She laughed and pushed his head under the water again and held him there until he pulled her down by her legs. She opened her eyes under the water and despite the blur the water caused her vision she could still see the wide white grin pulling his mouth open. She allowed a grin of her own as she reached forward and gave him a hard push against his chest before hurrying back up to the surface to get away from him.

She swam upstream because she knew she wasn't getting back up the bank he dragged her off of but she could easily get out where the water shallowed and ran flush with the solid ground. At the playful call of her name she flipped on to her back and kicked the water at him with a joyous laugh and he moved his hands in front of his face to avoid the spray. Finding the rocks beneath her feet she stood up and the water hit just under her breasts but being taller than her, David was able to touch the bottom before her and the sound of his splashing behind her had her laughing with the chase.

She made it on to solid ground moments before he did and she leapt forward with a yelp to escape his reaching hands as she ran. She laughed as she ran, no longer caring that she was soaking wet and only caring that he may catch her and throw her back in. She had no idea where she was running to and it no longer mattered when he managed to catch up to her and wrap his arms around her middle as they both stumbled to a halt, "David!" She laughed and that same laugh went playfully shrill for a moment when he lifted her off the ground.

The sound of her laughter was a beautiful thing and he could not help but laugh along with her. "Gotcha," he gloated and she dropped her head back to rest on his shoulder as she continued to laugh and her neck was left to tempt him. They were playing though and he wanted to keep hearing her laugh so he reined himself in and did not give in to temptation and kiss her neck. He let her slip from his arms and back down to the grass covered ground but did not miss the opportunity to feel her every curve and every muscle move with her panting breath and laughter through her wet clothing.

She turned in his arms to face him as she laughed quietly and he smiled down at her soaking wet just as she was. Her eyes held his as she moved her hands up to hold his face before she rose to her toes and gave him a soft lingering kiss as she continued to laugh happily against his smiling mouth. Taking extra precaution to not let this kiss get out of hand she pulled away laughing and lowered herself back down and then turned and walked away toward their pile of possessions.

With a shake of her head she began tugging at the sleeves of her blazer in an attempt to get the stubborn wet fabric from her arms. When she was successful she hung it on a branch in the sunlight and then hung her vest as well before working at pulling off her wet boots, "these are expensive articles of clothing Charming. They are not meant for swimming in."

"Oh but they are perfect for tracking through the forest, fighting dragons and ogres, and climbing beanstalks in," he retorted and got a boot whipped at him that he caught with a laugh just before it hit him in the face.

"It's not like I was planning to do all of that when I got dressed two weeks ago," she laughed and pulled off her other boot.

"I thought you planned for everything," he teased and rolled her eyes with a light scoff. He watched her as she turned a little and closed her eyes as she smiled up at the sun and took a long deep breath to fill her lungs. It made him smile and as she exhaled he stepped forward, "you know, I don't want you to get a chill."

Regina smirked and left her eyes closed, "in this weather?"

"You never know," he shrugged and she turned only her head to look at him with dark playful eyes, "the clothes would dry faster if you hung them up anyway."

She hummed a greatly amused laugh and turned on her heels as she placed her hands on her hips and pushed her chest out just a little more as she walked up to him, "if I'm not mistaken I would have to say you are just trying to get me to take my clothes off."

"Well then there is your answer," he smirked and she tilted her head as she stopped in from of him, "you are mistaken."

Regina hummed in mock thought and lifted her hands from her hips and brought her fingers to the first closed button on her wet white shirt, "I am not often mistaken," she whispered with an added rumble to her voice and then grinned when his eyes glanced down at her breasts for only a split second as she pulled her shirt from her trousers and continued opening the remaining buttons.

...

He walked up to her where she laid on her back in the long green grass and soaked in the warm sunlight over her skin. Her wet hair was now dry in soft loose curls and her arms were lifted above her head and bent at the elbows while one leg laid flat and the other was bent at the knee only enough to lay her foot flat against the grass. She was clothed in only her black bra and panties and her eyes remained closed to keep out the bright sun but just because she couldn't see him studying her didn't mean she didn't know he was.

With a smile and dry jeans he lowered himself down on top of her and she smiled at the movement but didn't open her eyes. He laid flush on top of her, holding up some of his weight on his elbow as he smiled down at her. Her skin was warm against his bare chest and his heart skipped when she opened her friendly dark brown eyes. It was still astonishing to him how the warm gentle eyes looking at him now were the same eyes that had been so maliciously cold and empty in the past.

"Thank you," she smiled a little with her quiet voice and held his gaze when he cocked his head and smiled a little in return.

"For what?"

"For giving me another chance," his expression softened tenderly and she took a quiet breath in and spoke on the exhale, "and for pushing me to use that chance to its fullest. I know that I am not easy to deal with sometimes," she smiled a little and he cocked his head the other way and brought his fingertips to push softly through her hair. "I just wanted to say thank you. Sex and emotional train wreck aside," she teased with a small and quick shake of her head that had him laughing under his breath, "thank you for trying for me. No one has ever really done that for me before."

David frowned a little at her words and continued moving his fingers through her hair, "you're welcome," he whispered with a conflicted heart. He was everything to her. She had no one but himself and Henry and Henry was less than steadfast in his belief in her so really he, David, was everything to her. She didn't need to say it, it didn't take any genius mind to know that this lonely woman held him so dear to her precious broken heart. She kept him safe and protected in her strong hands.

Snow was back in Storybrooke and he knew she was working day and night to find a way to get him back home to her and Regina had given him a way home, a simple and safe way and they were almost there. They were almost back to Storybrooke and he could not take everything away from Regina. He simply couldn't. The very thought made him sick but what shook him harder was that leaving Snow did not bother him as much as leaving Regina. The guilt was consuming and the love was fighting.

"Please say something," she whispered uneasily beneath him. She wasn't one to put herself in such a vulnerable position and his silence was making her nervous.

David shook his head slowly and focused his glazed eyes back on her nervous dark brown ones as he moved his fingertips across her jaw and she moved her hands to his face, "I'm sorry," he whispered slowly with another shake of his head and she furrowed her brow in a question. "I am sorry that I didn't believe Snow when she said you were worth all the effort in the world to save. I am sorry I didn't give you another chance sooner. I am sorry I didn't allow myself to see the person beneath the queen. I am sorry I hurt you and even though I could have done nothing to stop it I am sorry you lost Daniel and I am sorry you had to be queen."

Regina shook her head and swallowed her tears as her quiet voice quivered, "you don't have to be sorry for-"

He silenced her protest with a kiss, a soft slow kiss before pulling away only far enough to speak, "I do."

"Okay," she whispered with a subtle nod of her head in his hand and a quick glance at his eyes before she focused back on his mouth and accepted his second kiss. It was reassuring and fulfilling, kissing him felt right even though she knew quite well it was the furthest thing from right. It was tragically insane how much clarity she found when she kissed him. She couldn't understand why the things that made her happy were never there to stay. Daniel, Snow, Henry, and now David. Perhaps it was her...


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello my readers! Important notice here! FanFiction notification emails have been finding their way in to people's junk mail and spam folders and therefore people miss updates and such for stories. Very unawesome. It happened to me but it is a quick and very simple fix! Just add the FanFiction Bot email as a contact in your email and the notifications will come in your inbox once again :)**

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**If you missed the previous chapter because of the whole email issue then go back and read it :) this one is a little more on the angsty side but the next one I am very excited for! So stay tuned and leave a review! Happy reading :)**

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"I have a question for you."

"Ask away," she smiled and took a swallow of water from the leather canteen.

She sat in front of him with one leg bent so it acted as a wall between them while the other laid flat and straight, right against his shins as he sat cross legged with his hands on her calf between them. "Those glowing memory things," he started with his eyes down at his hands as his thumbs moved over the navy blue fabric of her trousers, "I was wondering if you would be willing to share more of them with me."

"...why?"

David laughed under his breath and shook his head in amusement as he lifted his head to look her in the eye, "what do you mean 'why'?"

"Why would you want to see more?" She elaborated curiously, unsure as to why anyone would want to see the things she had seen and felt.

David shrugged a little and cocked his head with a small smile, "because I find you absolutely fascinating and I want to learn more about you."

"By living through my experiences?" She questioned doubtfully with her brow knitted in confusion. He nodded without hesitation and it had her shaking her head, "why?"

"Because I find it a rather beautiful method," he smiled and she tilted her head as her features creased with further lack of understanding, "the memories may not be pleasant or beautiful but the method is and you are. Some things that need to be told are best to be left unsaid."

"That is a very contradictory statement," she whispered as her features softened and her eyes flicked back and forth between his.

David nodded and then shrugged before ducking his head down a little, "is it wrong though?"

Regina smiled just a little and shook her head as her shoulders dropped their tension from his request, "no," she didn't want to have to force the bitter and painful words to leave her mouth. Dropping her eyes to look in to the canteen between her hands she gave in with a slow, "what do you want to see?"

David smiled at her quiet voice and the moved his hands from her calf to cup her jaw and lift it up so he could kiss her. His thumbs moved over her cheek bones as they opened their mouths only to close them around each other's once more before he pulled away slowly and softly, hovering over her face with closed eyes and a smile. Tucking a few strands of dark hair behind her ear he answered her quietly, "I want you to show me the time Snow saved you."

A frown tugged on his mouth when she drew in a shaky breath and lifted her hands to hold his right hand as she turned her head and kissed his palm. He placed his free hand back on her calf and she kept her eyes squeezed shut as she ended her soft lingering kiss and pushed her head in to his hand and tightened her grip around it. She was trying not to cry but he saw the tear that rolled down her cheek.

After a few moments of watching her ache he found himself wondering what it was exactly that had happened between her and Snow in the forest to have Regina so reluctant to share. When she let go of his hand and brought the familiar white glow to the air above her palms he reached forward carefully and her dark eyes flashed open just as his fingers touched the magic. The grief and fear in her eyes was startling but it was too late to pull away and rather than in the forest he found himself in a castle.

_"Mother!"_

_Regina frowned at the cheery call of her title but then put on a small smile and turned to face Snow as she ran up to her with the widest of grins, "yes dear?"_

_"I have a surprise for you," she laughed and took her hand in her own and began leading her to Regina's bedchambers._

_Regina followed Snow's eager steps with rather weighted ones of her own as she shook her head, "you know I do not care much for surprises dear," she replied tiredly but allowed Snow to drag her to her room. She was going there anyway._

_"But I think you'll like this one."_

_Snow smiled over her shoulder and Regina saw her flinch subtly at the wasted expression she did't have time to hide. She knew Snow wanted so badly to make her smile again._

_"I hear you crying in your room a lot mother," she confessed quietly but then a hopeful tone lightened her voice, "I thought I'd try to make it better for you tonight. So you could go to sleep happy instead of sad."_

_Regina followed with a heavy heart and her lips pressed together and her jaw clenched to keep the tears from falling that had suddenly pooled in her eyes. With a silent deep breath and a few slow shakes of her head she composed herself once again just before they reached the large wooden doors to her bedchamber. This life had not been kind to her._

_"Are you ready?"_

_Regina nodded and put on a small smile, "yes dear," the girl's face lit up wonderfully and she pushed the doors open with a laugh and skipped inside. Slightly curious as to what it would be, Regina peaked through the doors and found herself starting to laugh for the first time in a long time._

_Rocinante laid upon her bed with all four legs tucked beneath her while Snow scratched her face and congratulated her for staying put while she found her mother. "Snow, dear, however did you manage this?" She laughed quietly in surprise and shook her head as she walked toward Snow and Rocinante, "certainly your father didn't allow it?"_

_Snow shook her head and laughed as the mare lipped at her fingertips, "no, father doesn't know," she turned to look at Regina and was happy to see some light return to her dulled eyes as she smiled and laughed under her breath, "quick close the door!"_

_With a quiet laugh and a shake of her head she turned around and pushed the door shut, "now how did you get her in here?"_

_"I wrapped towels around her hooves so they wouldn't make noise on the stone," she laughed and bounced around on the bed to make room for Regina to sit with her, "and Johanna kept father busy while I led her inside."_

_"And what of the guards?" She smiled and sat down next to Snow, grinning when Rocinante nickered softly in greeting._

_"We blackmailed most of them."_

_"Snow!"_

_"What?" She laughed and played in Rocinante's mane._

_Regina huffed and looked over her mare only to smile and wrap her arms around her large brown head as she rested her own head against the mare's forehead and closed her eyes, "thank you Snow. It is very much appreciated," she whispered and then opened her eyes to find Snow grinning wildly._

_"Can I stay with you for a little while?"_

_She was hesitant to answer, her heart still aching terribly when it came upon the topic of Snow but who was she to turn her away when she had tried so hard to ease the tension between them and soothe the pain in her heart. So slowly she nodded in agreement against Rocinante's head and allowed for a small smile to curl her lips. Snow laughed excitedly and wiggled herself in to get more comfortable against Rocinante's side and it felt like someone was squeezing her sore heart at the sight._

_When Snow smiled down at her fingers Regina found her eyes to wander over the girl. It had been a long while since she had really looked at her. She was much taller, her hair was longer and styled in a more mature manner than the little girl she had first met, her hands were soft and slender, her gown fitted for the growing swell of her breasts, her face had aged beautifully, but her eyes remained young and innocent, unaware of the darkness present in her own home, "you are growing up," she whispered and Snow hummed a small laugh._

_"Yes I am," she smiled up at her and Regina looked curiously back at her, "you look the same though...just...unhappy...and tired."_

_"Yes, well..." she shrugged away the heart wrenching pain and put on the fake smile she had mastered over the years, "that is not your fault."_

_"Are you sure? I mean I'm the one who had you brought here...and I know you wanted to be with Daniel."_

_Regina nodded and then shook her head and smiled at the girl even though it was killing her inside and her fingers tangled anxiously in Rocinante's forelock, "Daniel left me dear. This is my life now and I will learn to be happy here."_

_Snow frowned at her and took a breath, "but you were so happy there...you were going to get married and you were so excited and full of life and maybe if we went and looked for Daniel-"_

_"Snow," she interrupted with a shaky voice that she soon steadied, "please, dear, do not make me relive my past."_

_"I'm sorry," she whispered with a sad cock of her head and Regina closed her eyes as she rested her forehead against Rocinante's._

_..._

_Snow had inched closer and closer after Regina had moved to sit right next to her instead of at Rocinante's head. Now her back was against Rocinante's side and Snow had her arms wrapped around her middle and her head on her chest as Regina stared out the large window at the far wall in the room and ran her fingers through Snow's hair while her free arm held her against her. They hadn't spoken for awhile and she could feel Snow growing heavier with sleep and her eyes had long since fallen shut but she wasn't asleep yet._

_The sun had gone down and she couldn't stop the fear growing inside her with every passing second nor could she prevent every muscle in her body from going tense at every set of footsteps outside her door. She was starting to panic again just as she had found herself doing every night for the past few years she had lived in the palace. She tried to focus on the comforting warmth and smell of Rocinante behind her but it only lasted a few moments before her peace was disturbed by voices down the hall from her door._

_So she tried to focus on Snow instead. She bowed her head to rest it against Snow's and closed her eyes to try and focus on solely Snow and not the fear growing enough to vibrate her tense muscles. She tried to convince herself that Daniel's death was not the girl's fault and that it was not her fault she ended up in the palace. She tried to reason with herself that she was just a child and she had just been trying to help when she had told Cora but it was to no avail. Her thoughts were frayed and tears were pushed to her closed eyes as she tried with all of her heart to love the girl as she had before._

_"Mother you are holding me too tight," Snow mumbled tiredly and nuzzled her face in to Regina's chest._

_"I'm sorry," she breathed out a whisper but did not at all loosen her grip and instead her body quivered. Moments later Snow wound her arms tighter and hugged her back just as tight and did not say another word. Not even when her quivers turned to shaking and her tears dampened her hair._

_Regina jumped at the footsteps outside her door and she felt Snow's face contort in confusion while her arms gripped tighter around her shaking figure. She did not like the dark. She was scared of it, she was scared of what came with the darkness. There were already hated and terrifying memories flying behind her eyes and she couldn't get them to stop._

_When the door opened Regina clung to Snow and held her breath, not daring to look at the crack of torchlight pouring in to her room. Likely sensing that she could not bring herself to speak, Snow opened her mouth instead to address the person in the doorway._

_"What is it you need?"_

_"The king is requesting the queen's presence. I have been sent to retrieve her."_

_Regina was shaking in Snow's arms as she held her breath to keep herself together. Had it been any other night like in the past she would have held her head high as she walked through the halls to Leopold and would break when she was back in her cage. But tonight she had received the comfort of her mare and for the first time in a long time Snow had made her laugh and smile and forget. Even if it was only for brief moments at a time. She would take a night with Snow over a night with Leopold any day. So she clung to her in case by some miracle she would be spared this evening._

_She could tell she was making the girl uneasy but she only held on to her tighter and turned her head so her face buried deeper in to soft black hair._

_"You may tell my father that tonight I have my mother and I will not be giving her up until tomorrow."_

_"Yes princess."_

_Regina vibrated in Snow's tight hold and when the door was closed and she was left inside with her stepdaughter Regina let go of her breath in the form of a low shaky cry in to Snow's hair as her tears fell down her cheeks. She tangled a hand in Snow's dark hair to keep her head in place against her chest as she quietly cried away the fear and relief that overwhelmed her. Snow said nothing more and while Regina knew she was confused and worried, she did not explain herself. She was however a little comforted by her arms wrapping tighter around her middle and her head nuzzling deeper in to her chest. Even if it was Snow, she was comforted._

David came out of it with a sharp inhale and wide eyes that were suddenly filled with tears. He stared at Regina as he tried to catch his breath and calm his racing heart. He was expecting a walk through the forest with Snow and a disguised Regina not a dark night in Leopold's castle that would leave him vibrating and terrified. Regina looked the same as she had before he touched her memory, one tear still making its way down her cheek as she watched him with terrified eyes that began to calm back down.

He couldn't shake off the fear that lingered after being so deep in Regina's mind. So he reached forward and roughly pulled her against him, closing his eyes and burying his face in to her hair as he wound his arms as tight as he could around her. She moved around, repositioning herself so they were both more comfortable. Not that he really cared about comfortable positions at the moment. To be that scared of someone was not okay. Her fear shook him hard. She was scared of nothing.

Regina moved so she straddled his lap and turned her head so her face was against his neck. Her arms moved around him and on its path over his chest her right hand felt the unsteady beat of his racing heart. She frowned at the sensation and hugged him tight, not thinking any less of him when he quivered in her hold and sniffed back his tears as he pushed his face deeper in to her hair. With a shake of her head she whispered, "I stopped trying after that...she didn't, god knows that girl never stopped trying."

...

Regina walked to the edge of the river and with a long sigh she lowered herself down and dipped the tips of her fingers in the cool running water. David had been gone for nearly three hours now. He had asked for time to calm down and she, of course, agreed and watched him walk in to the woods to clear his head. She supposed she should have assumed he was referring to the time Snow saved her when she was masked with a shape shifting spell but when asked about being saved by Snow White, that instance did not stand out in her mind.

At the hairs raising on the back of her neck she whipped around and stood up tall, her feet disturbing the river rocks she stood on as her wide eyes scanned the area around her for danger. She brought magic to her fingertips as she searched harder for the source of her uneasiness. At the sudden sound of moving rocks she spun to her right with her hand raised and her magic ready but she caught herself before she let it go.

"You are very difficult to find darling."

"Seems I need to try harder," she deadpanned and then turned and walked away only to have her follow. She was startled by the hand that caught her wrist but only because it was not firm or harsh and was instead gentle soft and that had her stopping in her tracks and turning to face her mother once again with her wrist still in her hands.

"Please," she whispered as she shook her head and Regina watched her with flighty eyes. She knew Regina would run at the slightest misstep so she treaded carefully, "I haven't seen you in decades," carefully she moved both of her hands to hold Regina's but she did not pull her eyes away from her daughter's face even when Regina dropped her head to stare at their hands as though they weren't their own.

She was beautiful. It was something she had always known but had never taken the time to admire or appreciate. She was strong and stood tall and steady even though she was more than wary. The clothing of her new land suited her, they were simple but strong and when she wore the vest and jacket the entire look screamed a woman in power and that made her proud. She looked worn but fierce, a quite intimidating appearance really. But she had seen her smile and laugh with the prince before she approached her and that was an appearance Regina took to quite nicely.

Her hair was so much shorter. Long silky strands were cut off above her shoulders and curled out just a little. Regina was still staring at their hands when Cora lifted one of her own to feel the dark strands but before she could touch her Regina snapped her eyes back up and quickly backed away, tugging her hand away as she did. "Regina," she protested softly but Regina shook her head and turned to walk from her again.

"No."

"Please Regina," she continued as she fell in step behind her daughter, "I-"

"You what?!" She asked sharply as she spun around, a certain exhaustion lending her breath to be heard in her words. She held Cora's gaze for a little while as she likely searched for the right words that would keep her there, "I do not wish to waste my time with you. I made it quite clear that I want absolutely nothing to do with you," she snarled as her heart ached in protest at her claim.

Cora shook her head a little and tried a small smile and brought a light hand to her chest, "I want to try again Regina," she spoke slowly and softly and watched as the fight within herself began to show in her daughter's features, "I am your mother."

Regina stopped her there with a scoff and an irritated and hurt laugh, "you don't know the meaning of the word!"

"I love you."

Regina clenched her jaw shut and curled her fingers closed at her sides so her fingernails dug in to the palms of her hands. Those three little words brought tears to her eyes and opened an old wound in her heart that she wanted so badly to be healed. But she did not trust the woman who could heal it and that hurt more than anything.

"I love you Regina," she repeated and Regina didn't blink for if she did her tears would fall, "I know that you love me in return sweetheart," she whispered and watched carefully as Regina quivered and the tears brimming her eyes threatened to fall with the subtle motion. "I have been watching you with David and I want that. I want to make you smile, I want to make you laugh, I want to talk with you for hours on end, I want to know you darling," her voice shook a little as a tear found its way down her cheek without warning.

"I know I was horrid to you, I know that quite well...but I want to try and make up for that even though I know I can never make it disappear. I want to make you happy," she whispered and Regina broke. Her eyes pushed shut and her tears fell as her fingers tangled in her hair and she let out a confused and angered scream through her teeth. Cora flinched at the sight of her daughter crumbling and stepped forward to perhaps comfort her but Regina tore her arms away and stalked off, "Regina."

"Get away from me!" She cried and shook her head, holding a hand over her stomach as she all but ran away from the footsteps following her.

"Regina please darling give me ano-" she cut herself short when Regina stopped dead and spun around and Cora found herself staring at the tip of an arrow hardly seven inches from her face. Regina stood strong and still with her bow drawn tight by soft slender fingers as her tears rolled down her beautiful face.

"I don't believe you," she hissed but her voice was thick and shaky with the desire to cry.

"I know," she nodded and cocked her head as she moved to take a step closer only to have Regina threaten to let the arrow go. So Cora stayed put, "just put a little faith-"

Regina laughed at her. Just laughed at her through her teeth as her tears fell and her heart fell apart. "Faith," she raised an eyebrow and shook her head and took a breath to speak slow and cold, "I have very little faith in anything and I haven't a sliver in you," she scowled at Cora and Cora shook her head silently with pleading tears in her eyes. She had no sympathy for those tears even though she knew they were honest. The fact that they were honest was likely what led her to release the arrow from her fingertips.

She was gone though before it hit her. She disappeared in a cloud of purple and the arrow hit the tree behind where she had been standing. Regina stared at the arrow with tears in her eyes and slowly lowered her bow as she listened to the silence around her. So quiet. So still. It was as though it had never happened. Her eyes snapped to David when he made himself known by walking in to her focused line of sight and yanked the arrow from the trunk of the tree.

He walked up to her spinning the arrow in his fingertips and keeping his eyes following it before he stopped less than a stride in front of her. Without a word he looked up and handed her the arrow, soft fingers touching his rougher ones in the exchange as she held his gaze with watery brown eyes. "It was just a little too far to the right, love," he whispered softly and her shoulders slumped as more silent tears fell and she looked down at the arrow in her hand.

She didn't want to put any thought in to the nickname. Didn't mean the possible underlying meanings flew through her mind anyway. She found herself wishing he meant the word in its truest definition. "How much did you see?" She whispered and closed her eyes as her hand gripped the arrow tighter and lifted it a little before dropping it down to her side.

"Enough," he whispered his reply gently and she covered her mouth with the back of her hand that still held the arrow. With a frown he walked forward and slowly wrapped his arms around her small figure as she dropped the bow and arrow to the ground. Her arms hugged him tight around his middle and her head rested on his chest just below his shoulder while he laid his atop hers. "I think the both of us just need to hold one another for a little while," he whispered and felt her lean heavier in to him with a slow shaky exhale as she wound her arms even tighter.


	19. Chapter 19

**Okay I reeeeeaaaally want to hear what you all think of this chapter! Don't leave me with nothing ;) I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!**

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"Tell me about Daniel."

Regina furrowed her brow just a little, almost unnoticeably as she moved the dagger down David's jaw, "why?"

"Do you not want to talk about him?" He questioned gently and she kept her eyes on the stopped blade, "I don't imagine you have told anyone about him before and I thought you may like to. Not everybody knows about him and those that do don't truly know anything about him aside from his relationship status with you," he paused to let her finish her movement she had put on hold while he spoke. When the dagger moved off his chin he gently prodded her once more, "tell me about him."

Regina shook her head and swallowed her tears at the offer to tell as she brought the blade to his cheekbone again, "I don't know where to start."

David shrugged and smiled a little while she took great care to keep her eyes from meeting his, "what did he look like?"

"You saw him when I gave you that first memory of Snow."

"Not long enough to get a good look," he urged softly and watched her shoulders drop a little.

No she had never talked about Daniel before. Who did she have to tell? She had had no friends or family she could express her joy to and when he was killed she had no one to share her grief with. "He was only a couple inches shorter than you," she started and continued with the dagger over his skin, "his hair was brown, not dark and not light, just brown and it was just a little longer than most men kept theirs but I liked it. I remember him enjoying the feel of me running my fingers through it when we were close."

She paused for a few moments to pull herself together as the kind face she loved so dearly formed behind her eyes. She missed him so much, her heart ached with every memory of him, "like yours his eyes were blue but," she shook her head and lifted her gaze to study the prince's irises, "they were more...saturated. And darker around the circumference. They were not as sharp but were just as breathtaking," she whispered the last word breathlessly and stared in his eyes for barely half a second longer before she blinked quickly and dropped her eyes to the dagger's blade so she could focus on making it move again.

It felt like her heart was in her throat and she fought the desire to cry over her lost love as well as cursing the burn she felt begin to grow in her cheeks at her unintentional confession. "His hands carried the perfect unique balance of strength and gentleness, the balance only found in a person who has worked with horses all their life. They were large like yours only they were calloused with hard work. His touch was so gentle I sometimes could hardly feel it but I always knew he did even if the pressure was unnoticed. My heart skipped every time and I could never truly stop the smile that came with the feeling."

She smiled just a little and flicked the dagger off David's jaw and listened to the quiet ring of the metal in the silence between them. As she moved to the other side of his face she continued quietly but her voice had started to take on a happier and less mournful sound, "when he looked at me I felt like there was nothing else in the world that mattered to him and that was amazing and freeing when everyone else looked at me like I was theirs to own. I lived to make that man smile," she found herself smiling to herself and her smile suddenly grew in to laughter.

"Our first kiss was in the stable. I had come to him to talk just as I always did and this time I was rambling on about something exciting but for the life of me I cannot remember what it was," she shook her head with a quiet laugh and slowly moved the blade down beside his smile, "you would think I would remember something like that because there weren't all that many occasions I had such joyous things to talk about but I have no recollection whatsoever. I was talking a mile a minute while I sat on a bale of hay in the wheelbarrow and he worked around me smiling and laughing quietly at my enthusiasm. I didn't think anything of it when he walked toward me, I stood because I assumed he needed the wheelbarrow or hay from it but instead he silenced my chatter with a soft kiss. My first kiss.

He stole my breath and it felt like the entire world stopped spinning. I was stunned and _unbelievably_ giddy and I knew right then that I was to be with him forever. He moved something inside me and there was no going back. When he pulled back he stayed close and we both smiled and I remember lifting my hands to rest over his that remained holding my face. Then he told me he loved me and my smile only grew. I believed every word and I felt like I could fly," she smiled and shook her head as the memory played in her mind and David's hands held her waist, "so I kissed him again. And he kissed me back."

With another shake of her head she tilted David's head back and placed the edge of the dagger against his throat, "I didn't tell him I loved him right away. I know he knew I did though. I told him roughly a month later when we snuck out one night to Firefly Hill for the first time. That was also the time and place," the corners of her mouth lifted a little higher for a moment and she finished her task with flicking the blade off his chin for the final time, "he took me for the first time. And the second," she grinned and had her eyes follow her hand as she placed the dagger back on the ground beside them, "and the third," she chuckled and heard David laugh quietly as well while she put her hands in her lap, unable to wipe the smile off her face and unable to look David in the eye.

"He saw me for who I was, not who I could be and not who I should be. He saw me. He enjoyed _me_," she kept her voice down to a near whisper and shook her head at her hands, her smile now gone, "I would give anything to have that again," she confessed quietly and watched as her hands were covered by David's without a word. Her heart began to ache at the contact and tears began to prick her eyes as she left her hands limp and allowed him to move them as he pleased. It was familiar and after remembering Daniel she could no longer deny it. No matter how much she wanted to deny it, she couldn't.

_I love you_. He almost said it. It was on the very tip of his tongue and his mouth was open ever so slightly in preparation for the sound of those three words but with all the will in the world he just barely stopped himself. Instead he lifted a hand to hold her face but she flinched away from the contact and ripped her hands away as she stood up and ran off, "Regina? Regina!" He pushed himself up to his feet and ran after her.

She pushed through ferns and branches that he had to push away as they whipped back at him. She was quick and agile and they both made it rather deep in to the forest before he caught her by her arm and yanked her to a halt, "Regina, what are-"

"I love you!" She screamed and then continued to fight for breath as her tears fell quickly down her face. He snapped his mouth shut but she could not read his expression and it had her panicking all the more. "I love you David and I don't know what to do!" She yelled and covered her mouth to ebb away a sob with the hand that wasn't with the arm he still held on to. "It doesn't make any sense! I can't love you, I shouldn't love you! But I do! I do love you and you are only going to hurt me! You are married to Snow White! Your love is Snow White! I know _all_ of that and yet I have let my heart fall so carelessly in to your hands!"

Still he said nothing and simply stood there with an unreadable expression so she ripped her arm from his grip and she continued seamlessly with tears and a sore heart, "it's not fair David! You are not fair!" She cried and drew in a shaky breath in a poor attempt to stop her tears while his eyes kept their pinpoint focus on her own. "You have everything and no matter what you do you will still have everything! You will never be the bad guy, you will never be the villain in your story! I will always be the villain and this time I have done nothing wrong!"

She pointed at him but still he did not move, "I pushed you away, I told you 'no', I did not want this, but _you_," she gritted her teeth and her hand started to shake while her tears continued to fall, "you kept trying," she jerked her hand back down to her side and shook her head at him. Her voice turned vulnerable and shaky which only increased it's heartbroken nature as she closed her eyes and took another breath, "you kept trying. You won my heart and now you are going to throw it away because you have had your fun with me and your wife is back in Storybrooke working night and day trying to find a way to get you home. She will love you no matter what you do. You are careless! You kissed Regina? Regina's fault! You had sex with Regina!? Regina's fault! She's a witch, she's evil, she cast a fucking spell on you! It's never _David's_ fault, _he's_ Prince _Charming_, he could _never_ hurt _anyone_!"

"I love you," he shook his head with a needy and gravelly voice that was almost a growl as he walked up to her. Startled by his sudden words, her mask of anger was fumbled with and then dropped and he heard her breath catch in her throat as her eyes widened. When he was within arms reach of her she began taking a step back for every one he took forward, tripping and stumbling over the uneven ground as her eyes focused nervously on his. "I love you Regina, I have loved you for the majority of this journey but I kept it to myself so I wouldn't scare you. Am I angry for betraying Snow? Most _definitely_. Do I feel an excessive amount of guilt for loving you when I should be loving my wife? _Absolutely_. Is it irrational that we have fallen so hard after such a short time? Perhaps. But is it so much different than falling in love after a single glance after an ordeal with stolen jewels? Any different than a single kiss in a stable?" He questioned and her back collided roughly with a tree as fear filled eyes stared back at him with tears falling helplessly.

He didn't let her look away and kept his intense gaze as a trap to hold her as he stepped closer to keep her pinned against the tree, "is it impossible for a woman so dark to love a man so opposite?" He whispered and she choked out a small cry as her tears fell faster, "is it impossible for a man so opposite to love a woman so dark in return? Some may think so. But we know better," she shook her head and cried through her teeth as her eyes focused on his mouth and she tried to squirm away from beneath him.

"Do we though?" She whispered nervously and almost to quiet to hear as she clawed at the tree behind her to try and pull herself off to the side and out from underneath him.

David caught her chin with his finger and she let out a quiet gasp and stopped squirming when he sharply tilted her head up so her dark tear filled eyes had no choice but to look in to his steady blue. "Yes," he answered definitively and she opened her mouth to protest as her tears continued to fall but instead of hearing what more she had to say he dropped his head down and kissed her.

His kiss was hard and firm and the love she let herself feel for him overwhelmed him as she kissed him back and took tight fistfuls of his shirt. He knew quite well however that she could give him so much more than that. She just had to let herself. "I love you," he whispered against her parted lips before quickly kissing her again so she couldn't reply. She whimpered against his mouth and tried to shrink away but he held her up against him and kept her pinned so she couldn't run.

"No," she managed to mew out before he came down on her again. She wanted to run away and she never wanted to stop running but she also wanted him too much to truly commit herself to fighting her way out of his arms. Her heart rate was high with stress and fear as his love came so strong and seamless to her and knocked her off balance while her own fought furiously and viciously in its buried cage for its freedom and to show the world what it was capable of. "David," she whimpered in another momentary breath of air and this time he let her speak but he hovered over her mouth only far enough away so their eyes could focus on each other, "you're scaring me," she confessed shakily in the smallest of whispers.

He knew she was scared, even if he hadn't been aware of the fact she was terrified of love he would have known by the way she was practically shaking against him and by the way every muscle in her body was tense along with her short and shallow breaths. So yes he knew she was scared, "I want," he whispered and lifted her chin once again, a little gentler this time, "to see you be brave," he finished and fresh tears fell from watery eyes.

Her jaw clenched and unclenched repetitively as she focused on his clear blue eyes while his thumb moving softly over the side of her chin slowly chipped away at the chains around her heart. It felt like there was an animal inside her, an animal with claws that wanted to see the light of day and wanted to fill its lungs with fresh air. She was suffocating under his gentle touch.

There was no point in saying no, there was no point in denial. In Storybrooke he would do the right thing and he would leave her no matter how much she wished and hoped he wouldn't. He was too good to do the wrong thing. She loved him and she did with every fibre of her being and for now he claimed to feel the same and truthfully all she needed was the illusion of love to reel her in. True or not, his love for her was enough to have her reaching and she could have it if she let go of her cage bars and leapt.

So leap she did.

With what courage she could muster paired with a small panicky whimper, she fell in to him and pulled his head down to meet her in a kiss. She clung to him and cried at the pain and cautious worry in her sore heart as she put it to use once again after so long. Soon enough those tears of fear and hurt and worry were joined with those of relief. Relief that she could use her heart, relief that she could feel, relief she had someone to feel for, and relief that the soreness in her heart was slowly beginning to dissipate.

It felt like his heart was ripped from his chest it was so sudden and strong. Her love stole his breath and flipped him around, it was the ride of his life and he wasn't about to let it go. So he kissed her harder and she reciprocated with just as much want. Tears pricked his own eyes and his heart began to ache because with such a taste of Regina's love...he knew he would not be able to go back to Snow's.

...

She hadn't said so much as a word since they had returned to their little camp by the river. David had let her be knowing that she was a woman of careful planning, a woman who hated surprises, a woman who was a master of control, but was now a woman who lost her control with a surprise of something entirely unplanned. She was trying to cope. She sat on a log with eyes glazed in thought and fingers fidgeting with unease while her expression gave up nothing.

Without a word he walked up behind her and she jumped when he bent down and tucked her hair behind her ear before leaving a soft kiss on her neck, "things do not have to change between us," he whispered and placed another kiss on her neck, "not immediately."

"David," she breathed out slowly in protest but he hushed her gently and her eyes fluttered shut as he kissed the corner of her jaw and moved a his hand slowly to hold her waist. She moved her arm back a little and placed her small hand over his while she tilted her head to give him more of her neck to cover. His breath was hot against her skin and it caused her to shiver. He stayed close as he stepped over the log, the hand on her waist moving across her lower back only to settle on the other side of her waist.

His touch was soft and gentle as his other hand moved over her jaw and in to her hair so his fingers curled around the nape of her neck and his thumb rested against her temple. He did not kiss her right away, he teased her with breaths skimming across her parted lips and his nose brushing against her nose and cheek. As she tilted her head in to his hand and turned her head to find his mouth he met her with a kiss. His mouth closed around her top lip and hers around his bottom in a kiss that had her melting away.

When he moved the hand over her waist to the buttons on her shirt their kiss was not impeded with the added task but was rather even more enjoyable. His fingers moved slow and it had her stomach fluttering with warmth and her heart skipping in anticipation. One by one her buttons were opened and she cocked her head further to change the angle of their kiss and he allowed her to deepen it. His hand only left her head to aid him in removing her white shirt and tossing it on the log next to her.

His hands moved lightly over her bare skin and it had shivers coursing through her body. At his silent request she stood from the log and moved her hands from resting against his chest to hold his head and stepped in to him as close as she could. As light fingertips moved over her back and unclasped her bra, her own fingers had dropped to open the buttons of his dark shirt so her palms could move over warm chiselled muscle.

His kiss was strong and it had her breath becoming hard to find while the softness of it left her falling harder for him. Tossing her bra to the side after his fingers pushed the straps down her arms, she rose to her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck as she hovered over his mouth and he let go of her to shrug off his shirt. She moaned softly across his lips at the feel of him moving against her, muscle moving against muscle with each of their heavy breaths.

Slowly, he pulled her down with him and maneuvered her so she was sitting in front of him with her knees bent up on either side of him and he leaned forward to kiss her, one hand bracing his weight on the ground next to her hip and the other moving down her thigh and calf. Her fingers curled around the nape of his neck and she arched her back toward him as she opened his mouth with her own only to close around it as his fingers found the zipper on her boot and pulled it down.

With her boots tossed to the side he pushed her down on her back and kissed her mouth hard before pulling away only to give her another quick soft kiss and then move his attention slowly downward. Large hands moved up her body, feeling every curve as his mouth tasted every part of her. His mouth was hot and he had the ache between her legs growing stronger with every touch. She wanted him lower.

Regina breathed out a soft pleasured whimper and her fingers clenched in his hair as he thumbed a pebbled nipple before closing his mouth around it while the fingers of his other hand drew patterns over the side of her thigh. She was a beautiful woman and the sounds coming from her, well, he wanted them louder. As he continued getting her heart rate up with his mouth and hand on either breast he moved the other from her toned thigh to rub her slowly and heavily between her legs, moaning against her skin himself as she pushed her hips up in to the contact with a needy moan of her own.

With one hand he unclasped her trousers and then gave her breast one more knead before lowering his other hand to help him pull down the navy blue fabric and black lace from her hips. He felt her breaths run shorter and shorter as he kissed lower and lower and her expensive trousers and panties left her slim figure. He left her waiting anxiously for a few moments without contact just to watch her stomach rise and fall with short heavy breaths. With a smile twisting his lips he dropped his head down and left a soft kiss on her hip bone and it had her cursing under her breath and gasping for air.

His hands moved to hold her steady and gently pushed her leg open a little more and her anticipation was finally satisfied when he closed his mouth around her clit. She groaned at the sensation and her fingers clawed at the soil and grass as she opened her eyes and pushed her head back when he moved his tongue over her. Closing her eyes once more she gritted her teeth with pleasure before choking out a small scream at the wet heat of his tongue pushing against her sensitive nerves.

"Fuck, Charming," she whimpered and then continued to fight for air through her erotic moans. She arched her back off the ground with a shaky scream as he kissed her harder and moved his tongue a little faster for a couple seconds before slowing back down and running his tongue up and down over her and closing his mouth around her again. Her breathing was ragged and her legs threatened to close with the warm pleasure tensing all of her muscles but he held held them open so he could continue; one hand on the inside of her thigh and the other wrapped around the outside of her other thigh.

Her fingertips grazed her round breasts as she moaned and pushed her head back and closed her eyes while her face creased with the sweet pressure of her building orgasm. She writhed at his continuous movement and cried out in pleasure, her nails on one hand scratching across her flexing stomach and the others digging in to the ground next to her. He continued as she came, kissing her and sucking her in to his mouth as she writhed and quivered with her screams and attempts to get enough air to rid herself of the white specks behind her eyes that many called stars.

When he lifted his head and crawled over top of her she was panting and vibrating with the excessive amount of pleasure he provided her with. Paired with the evident tie of some form of love between them, she had never felt more satisfied. As she opened her eyes she found him crawling closer and her eyes dropped to his mouth when his tongue darted out to clean herself from his lips. It had her creasing her brow and moaning quietly as her eyes remained focused on his mouth and she lifted her knee higher to urge him closer.

"Just a minute," she whispered breathlessly as he began lowering his head to her own and a hand held her around her ribs with a thumb underneath her breast.

"No," he whispered back with a grin and continued slowly dropping his head as she laughed happily beneath him with a bright smile. He did pause when he was hovering over her just in case she truly did need a minute or two to catch her breath but she lifted her head from the ground and met him with a kiss. With the reaction to his mouth only moments ago, he opened his mouth in invitation to let her taste and she eagerly accepted with a pleased moan in to his mouth and pulled herself higher with arms she wound around his neck.

Perfectly happy and relaxed, she pulled away softly and with a smile. She hadn't been this happy in years that she had long since lost count of. With her smile still in place and her breath not yet caught, she removed one arm from around his neck and moved it so her fingertips rested against his bare chest. She left a light kiss on the corner of his mouth and then another one on his jaw and whispered slowly against his ear, "I love you," it was terrifying to say and she didn't imagine she would say it often but she wanted to say it then. Perhaps it would will him to stay with her forever.

At his happy hum she kissed his jaw again and then his neck as her fingertips brushed across his chest. The kisses were soothing and tender and he loved them. His quiet and calm state was only disturbed when her fingers made it to the waist of his jeans without his notice and she slipped them inside slowly and rubbed his hard length. The disturbance of his peace was not minded in the least.

...

It was dark now and there was a chill in the air but it was warm by the crackling fire. Regina was curled up right next to him wearing his heavy leather jacket to ward off the cold, her legs were pulled up to her chest and her head rested on his shoulder. She didn't need the coat but he loved seeing her wear it so he insisted she take it. It made her look small and preciously so. He had his arm wrapped securely around her and if not for the way she played with his relaxed fingers between her soft hands he would have believed her to have been asleep long ago.

Everything felt right, everything felt stable, both were rather ridiculous things to feel for he was now in a relationship with the hot headed, ill tempered brunette with a truck load of psychopathic tendencies on the side. What he should feel was hate, fear, distrust when in actuality he felt love, safety, and could easily trust her with his life. However he did not fall in love with the Evil Queen, no he fell in love with Regina. That woman was entirely different. He couldn't even think of Snow without feeling his heart begin to tear to shreds at the betrayal or without tears coming to his eyes. Was he a coward for not facing the decision completely and thoroughly? He supposed some could appoint such a title. Either way he was taking the easy way out for now and let himself forget about his title of husband and instead moved his focus to Regina and tried once more to empty his mind.

"You're thinking about her," she whispered and bent one of his fingers.

"Hmm?"

"Snow," she whispered plainly, "you're thinking of her."

David frowned and lowered his head to leave a soft lingering kiss on the top of her head, "yes...but not about what you think."

"Not about how this tale of ours is going to crush her?"

"...alright perhaps it is exactly what you think," he whispered with a frown and rested the side of his head atop hers.

Regina nestled in closer and allowed her eyes to fall shut with the exhaustion of the day. With a quiet and carefully emotionless whisper she spoke, "you'll do the right thing. You always do."


	20. Chapter 20

**sorry about the late update you guys! Couldn't quite get happy with this chapter...the next one things will start to pick up again :) enjoy! And please review! :)**

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She woke up first, she woke up slow, and she woke up warm, all of her muscles relaxed and comfortable in David's sleepy hold around her. When she moved she found herself to still be wearing his leather jacket he had been lending her every night. She did try every night to give it back for him to use but he always refused to take it and would sometimes hug her too tight to wiggle free of the garment until she would give in and take it. So like every morning as of late she turned her attention to him to look him over and pay better attention to his temperature. Content that he was warm and comfortable, she settled her movement when in his sleep he wound his arms a little tighter to keep her close against him.

With her head laid comfortably on his bicep she studied his face carefully, imprinting it in her memory just in case. She lifted her hand to move her fingers over his features with a touch too soft to wake him. He was handsome and he always looked to be at peace. Awake or asleep he looked at peace and she could only hope that someday she would find that appearance in herself.

It had been four days now since they had told one another how they felt. The words 'I love you' had rarely passed their lips since. Worry, guilt, fear, and anger had them both becoming reluctant to speak the three simple words but they did show their nervous and unpractised love toward one another in small gestures, smiles, words, kisses, and of course sex.

She found it more than difficult to believe that he had truly fallen in love with her and she was rather certain he wasn't going to stay. There was always hope however and while hope had only crushed her in the past, she was foolish enough to give it yet another chance to help her rather than hurt her. Hope, as powerful as it may be, was a dangerous thing.

Her fingers moved gently across his brow, down his cheek, and then over his jaw as she frowned and laid her head heavier in to his arm. Why. Just why. What did he see in her that had him falling so quickly? What was it about him that was so addictive for her? Why her. Why him. Why.

She didn't have the answer.

With a hand still holding the corner of his jaw and her thumb moving softly over his temple she let her eyes fall shut with a slow exhale and moved just a little closer so she could rest her forehead against the bridge of his nose. She wanted to savour being able to be close. It felt so good just to be close.

"You okay?" He whispered as he woke up to her touch and she hummed lovingly against him in response and greeting. With his eyes still closed he took a deep breath to fill his lungs and wound his arms tighter as he let it out again, one arm up around her shoulders and the other around her waist. As his fingers drew random patterns over the leather jacket clothing her upper arm he nuzzled his head in to hers, his nose pushing against her own and her cheek with the movement that had her smiling which in turn had him smiling as well.

"We should get going dear," she whispered softly, "we've wasted enough time."

David remained unmoving save for his fingers over her arm for just a few moments longer before he moved his head away from hers only far enough for them to focus on one another. She relaxed her neck further so her head tilted a little further in to his arm as kind and warm dark eyes held is gentle icy blue. He had never seen her more calm. Breaking eye contact, he looked over her soft relaxed features and moved his fingers from her arm to tenderly hook a few strands of silky dark hair behind her ear, "tomorrow."

He met her eyes again as he whispered it and she smiled just a little, more so with her eyes than simply just her mouth. He didn't want to leave yet because he didn't want anything to change. They had constructed a perfect little world for them both there. No consequences, not one watching, no one judging, nothing to worry about, and nothing to regret.

"Tomorrow," she parroted in agreement and watched his eyes go back to studying her, meticulously taking in every detail. She loved it. It made her feel...special.

...

With David in the water Regina snatched up the phone from their pile of possessions and started a video as the sun warmed her body, "hello Henry. Thought I'd check in. David is swimming," she turned the phone to where David had been but was now nowhere to be seen, "ah well maybe he drowned," she turned the phone back to herself with a shrug and a playful grin, "good thing I don't exactly need him. Anyway, we are currently living our last 'break' day to its fullest! Enjoying the fresh air and the sunshine and the water in our own little secluded corner-"

"Regina! Oh my god! Regina!" He laughed and clumsily tried to get out of the water.

Regina lifted her head only to laugh loudly at the scene before her, "did you just-?! Oh my god! You did!" She laughed harder as David hugged the squirming fish tighter and yelped a laugh when he almost dropped it in to the water. Quickly Regina turned the phone to focus on David as he splashed out of the water with a large fish in his arms, "turns out he has been fishing," she laughed and shook her head.

"Quit standing there and help me!" He laughed and the fish fought him once again.

"I'm a queen, what makes you think I know what to do with a fish!?"

"Regina!" He laughed again and threw the fish toward her on the smooth colourful river stones when it began to squirm its way free, "breakfast is served," he laughed and gave a bow to the camera before breaking down and laughing again.

"How in the hell did you catch that?!"

David laughed and looked up at him as she raised her hands and wiggled his fingers, "I have good hands."

Regina laughed and shook her head and he laughed through his grin and pointed at her in warning to keep her mouth shut for any quick and clever remarks before dropping down to balance on his toes and examine his fluke catch. "Awe look," he poked it with a quiet laugh as it opened and closed its mouth trying to breathe, "it's still alive."

"Pick it up again. I'll take a picture."

"How? It's slippery," he chuckled and looked up at her and then the phone only to have his smile widen in greeting as he gave the camera a wink.

"Slide your fingers in its gills."

David scrunched his face in disgust at the idea and Regina closed her eyes and laughed with a hand over her mouth. Looking back to the large fish he hesitantly reached his hand forward and hooked his fingers in its gill, "oh god it feels so weird! Oh gross! Regina!" He laughed and slowly stood up with his arm stretched away from himself to keep the fish at arms length.

"Okay, okay, okay," she laughed and watched the dripping wet Prince Charming clothed in only his jeans, handle a fish he caught with his bare hands, "let me just-" she was cut off by a panicky yelp as he threw the fish away when it began flapping around with its last fight. She laughed loudly as he covered his mouth with both hands and bent forward as he laughed at his over reaction to the fish's sudden movement. An over reaction she caught on video.

David fought for air as he laughed, moving one hand to hold his stomach as he tried to compose himself, "damn it," he laughed and dropped back down on his hands and knees to pick up the fish once more. Pushing a hand through his wet hair he stood up tall and held the fish a little closer to himself now while Regina continued laughing, "take the damn picture!"

Laughing so hard it was practically silent, she nodded and ended the video before switching it from video to picture, "strike a pose!" With great difficulty he suppressed his laughter and hung the fish high off his fingers and used her other arm to present it with an overly wide grin and shoulders shrugged up. When the picture was taken he started laughing again, closing his eyes as he did and she took another picture.

"Give him a kiss Regina!"

"No!" She laughed and switched the phone back to video.

"Come on Regina," he grinned and moved his grip on the fish around its middle as he walked up to her with daring eyes, "give him a kiss."

"No!"

"Look at him," he pouted playfully as he walked closer, "he's so sad."

"I swear to god if you touch me with that fish!" She leapt backwards with a shriek of laughter and started running when he lunged forward with a maniacal laugh and began chasing her down, "get away from me!" She laughed and the video continued.

...

David watched her as she poked at the growing fire to get it burning enough to cook the fish they had managed to cut and clean. She had put on her white shirt but left all the buttons open and had left her trousers with her vest and blazer and boots. Confident and bold and gorgeous. It was hard to keep his hands off of her.

"Now we just have to wait," she breathed out and settled in front of the fire.

Once she was still David reached forward and his fingertips touched her jaw causing her to turn her head to look at him and his thumb moved slowly and softly across her top lip. His thumb lingered over her scar as did his eyes, "can you heal it?" He whispered curiously and she smiled beneath his thumb.

"Of course I could. But I don't want to. I rather like it," she smirked and her heart fluttered and skipped with uneven beats in her chest as his thumb moved over her scar.

"Good," he whispered and leaned in slowly, "because I rather love it," he whispered against her smiling lips and allowed a smile of his own before he closed the distance between them with a kiss. As he crawled closer over her, her fingers lightly moved up his bare stomach and then slowly she flattened her hands so her palms moved heavily over his chest.

Her hands moved around the back of his neck as his moved over her thighs and to her waist and then she was suddenly lifted and out of instinct her legs hooked around him. Her back was slammed against a tree, knocking the wind out of her a little as he kissed her hard so her head pushed back against the tree. "Fuck, you know how to turn a girl on," she growled in an aroused and breathless whisper as a large heavy hand moved up over her ribs and pushed against her breast and she pulled him back to her in a rough and passionate kiss that silenced his quiet lustful laugh.

His hand moved up over her bra and his thumb moved over her collar bone as his fingers slid beneath the collar of her white shirt and curled around the back of her neck. He broke off the kiss and moved his mouth to her neck and dragged his teeth over the soft skin and she tilted her head back with a quiet laugh in response. He smiled as he brushed his lips up her neck and then nipped at the defined edge of her jaw.

His right hand moved down from her neck over her chest and lingered over her ribs that expanded with every heavy aroused breath before moving down further and slipping in to her black panties while his left hand gripped around her bare thigh to keep her from falling. He rubbed her slowly and she hummed happily, her throat vibrating against his lips with the sound. She was wet at his touch and slowly her hums grew to moans and the soft kisses he left on her neck turned back in to bites and hot wet kisses.

The tree was rough against her back with only the thin white fabric of her shirt protecting her skin but the pain was happily ignored while he touched her. She rolled her lips in to her mouth as she moaned and arched her back off the tree and closed her eyes and pushed her head back. Her hands moved up along the rough bark of the tree that dug in to her shoulder blades until her fingers found a branch above her head and gripped around it.

She opened her mouth with a moan and rocked her hips toward him when his fingers moved faster and heavier over her clit. His hot breath blew over her neck and across her jaw as he lifted his head to hover over her face. She gritted her teeth together to slow the build of her orgasm and she dropped her head back down so it was level and she opened her eyes to look at him. He was watching her with a knowing smile, smug, arrogant, egotistical, call it what you wish, it turned her on, fucking her just to watch her move and writhe with pleasure, just to hear the sounds she would make. It sent her on a high and she laughed through her teeth as he pushed her closer and closer to her climax.

A strangled moan made it out of her lungs and her face creased with pleasure as she licked her lips when he pushed his fingers inside her and didn't let up on the heavy rubbing over her clit as he did. Her fingers opened and then closed back around the branch in sequence as she hissed through her teeth and allowed her eyes to wander over his perfectly muscled arms and torso before closing her eyes and pushing her head back with a repressed scream.

David grinned as she fought and panted, watching her breasts push against the restricting black bra with every heavy breath. He leaned in closer as his hand kept moving and she began to lose control of her body in the best way, "so stubborn," he chided through his grin and she breathed out a shaky laugh as she levelled her head to look him in the eye.

She shivered as a wave of pleasure radiated through her body when he dropped his head to swipe his tongue over her collar bone and then followed through with a kiss. She choked out a small scream when he found a particularly sensitive spot and her leg hooked tighter around his. "Mmmm," she whimpered and then tried to catch her breath as she writhed in wonderful agony, closing her eyes as she lazily dropped her head back against the tree.

"Regina," he whispered slowly through his smile against her ear and she shivered and came at the lustful call of her name. Her arms pulled up as she screamed and arched her back into him but he kept a firm grip around her thigh and pushed her harder against the tree so she couldn't get away from his moving fingers. She swore and screamed his name as he drew out her climax, watching her face crease as though she was in pain. She writhed beneath him, her strong lithe muscles almost providing her with escape but also kept him close to let him finish her. A battle of wills he always found exciting to watch.

Slowly he brought his fingers to a halt and he caught her in a kiss before she had the slightest chance to catch her breath. Wiping his fingers clean on his damp jeans and the inside of her thigh, he then tangled both of his hands in her short dark hair and kissed her harder only to absorb the sound of a small pleasure filled whimper at the lack of air he provided her with. "You are gorgeous to watch," he growled a whisper against her lips and felt her short heavy breaths leave her mouth before he kissed her again. Her legs wound tighter around him and he felt her smile through their hard passionate kiss at his compliment and just as always, he found himself smiling with her.

...

David laid on his back in the sun with his head propped up on his jacket while he studied Regina. She laid on her back as well, perpendicular to him with her head resting on his bare stomach. She had her eyes closed and her head turned toward him and she still wore her white shirt open over her bra and panties. His hand rested on her stomach and his thumb moved slowly back and forth while her hands laid limp over his hand.

She was soft and calm and beautiful. She wasn't asleep for he was looking in to those warm dark eyes only moments ago but she looked as though she could be. "I love you," he hummed and watched her mouth curl in to a small smile as her eyes opened again.

"Why is it so easy for you to say?"

"Because I'm not scared to say it," he answered simply and easily kept his smile in place as her dark eyes flicked back and forth between his blue, "I know what I feel and I know that I am not going to get hurt."

"Well of course you're not going to get hurt. If what you feel for me is true then so be it," she shrugged a little, her voice soft and vulnerable before she looked down at their hands and schooled the softness away in to a hard and emotionless tone, "I am going to get hurt or Snow will get hurt or the both of us will but you? No...you will be just fine."

David frowned and shook his head, moving his thumb softly over her stomach, "don't be bitter Regina."

"I'm not being bitter!" She scoffed an irritated laugh and looked back up at him, "tell me I'm wrong!"

"You're not wrong," he assured sternly and the fire in her eyes only grew as her mouth pulled in to the beginnings of a scowl, "but there is no need to go all heartless on me!" Too far. He knew it the moment he said it and he regretted it the very instant it left his tongue. Her face went hard and her eyes ran deadly as she sat up and tried to get to her feet.

"Whoa, whoa, hey," he caught one of her hands and held on tight as he quickly sat up, "I'm sorry," he frowned and she glared, dark eyes that had been so warm and soft only moments ago were now hard and cold. "I'm sorry," he repeated but she didn't budge. He didn't know how to get her back, he hadn't slipped until now, "I didn't mean it like that-"

"You did mean it like that!" She snapped and paid no attention to the way his thumbs tried to soothe her by moving overt he back of her tense hand. "Queen Regina; cold, dark, cruel, empty. Evil," she hissed and he frowned, slumping his shoulders as his eyes looked over her face.

"It was a careless word choice I will not fight you on that. But that is not who you are," he shook his head and smiled at her but she only gave her head a swivel and a tilt, a threat for him to choose his words wisely. However he chose wrong, "you are not evil, you are not cruel or cold or evil, Regina."

"Yes," she nodded with her head still tilted, "I am."

David shook his head in hopeless confusion and furrowed his brow, they were unintentionally getting in to something a whole lot deeper than accidental name calling, "Regina-"

"No! I am the naive woman who saved the girl from her runaway horse, I am the bright woman who lost her love, I am the lonely woman who unwillingly married the king, I am the heartbroken woman who cried herself to sleep night after night after night, I am the woman that got hurt beyond repair. I am also the wounded woman that fell into darkness, the cold woman who rips out hearts, the woman that kills, I am the angry woman that hunted your precious Snow White, I am the selfish woman who wanted your suffering, I am the mad woman who you all tried to kill! I am the woman who tore you away from your wife and daughter, who took an entire realm to a completely different world over a fight she carried with Snow White alone! I am the Evil Queen, David! I am the woman who lost everything! I do not want to be her, I wish I could just call her a mask or a costume, a name to be used as an insult. But I am her! She is me! I cannot get rid of that part of me! You cannot just pick and choose the parts of me you want to see or the parts of me you want to love! That isn't fair!

I do not want to be loved for only parts of me! I want to be loved for all of me! I do not need to be forgiven because I know quite well that what I have done cannot be forgiven. But I need to be accepted for who I am. I am cruel and I am angry and I am evil but I am also kind and gentle and good. I know pain and I know love. Both in their extremes. I am the whole fucked up package so you take me or you leave me. You do not get to pick and choose. And so help me if you ever call me heartless again I will rip your fucking head off your shoulders!"

He flinched at the vicious voice she yelled her final warning in and found his grip to have tightened around her hand but she paid no notice. She stared him down with hard eyes and a hard set jaw, "okay."

"Okay?" She forced the word out distastefully with a stiff quirk of her head.

"You're right," he started quietly and shook his head, looking in to her dark eyes because he was afraid to look away, "I am not being fair. I _am_ picking and choosing and that is not okay. You should be loved for all of you, not just the good parts. You should be loved for your mistakes, for your darker tendencies, and for the things you are ashamed of. I know of your reign and I know that side of you but I let myself forget about it.

It is so easy to think of you as two different people because your behaviour can skew so steep. No I did not fall in love with the Evil Queen. I fell in love with you. But you know what? You have shown me so much more than just an evil queen. So yes the a Evil Queen is you. And you have shown me that an evil queen needs love as well," he nodded a little and she held his eye contact without blinking, "and I am willing to take a leap of faith and love her too."

He watched her carefully, looking for any change in her demeanour only to find none. So he let his words stew in her thoughts while they sat in tense silence. She was the one to break the tension. Quite suddenly she lunged forward, ripping her hand from under his only to move it with her other one to hold his head in place as she kissed him. She was desperate for reassurance and he was all to happy to give it to her as he wound his arms tight around her waist and kissed her back and her arms wrapped around his head and neck.

Her kiss was rough and it was rather mean. He assumed it to be a test so he didn't back down from the challenge and soon enough she began to calm down. Her tense body relaxed and she moved closer to him as her kiss softened and became more familiar to him.

"Forgive me?" He whispered against her lips and looked up in to dark brown eyes whose softness had returned.

Regina smiled a small and nervous smile as she removed an arm from around his head to trace her fingertips around his hairline and down along his jaw and he leaned in to her touch, "yes," she whispered and her heart skipped when he smiled back before leaning in and kissing her again.


	21. Chapter 21

**I quite enjoyed writing this chapter :) I hope you enjoy reading it! Please leave a review and let me know what you think!**

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"Now feel free to slap me for asking you this but have you ever slept with another woman?"

Regina hummed lowly through her smirk and leaned back on her hands, "yes I have," she answered truthfully and watched David try to hold back a smirk at the images she knew were running wild through his mind. "She was a favorite actually. There is something especially appetizing about the female figure; soft and pretty. She was quite a beautiful woman and contrary to popular belief all of my sexual partners over the years have been willing and she was especially keen. Her hands were wonderful," she smirked a little and gave a suggestive raise of her eyebrows.

Then she cocked her head and looked up in to the tree canopy, "now your daughter," she nodded and pursed her lips and cocked her head the other way, "I expected her to be a little more fierce, have a little more fight," she shrugged her shoulders as if to say 'oh well' and then met his eye. She nearly burst in a fit of laughter at the pale and horrified face looking back at her. She watched him with a simple serious expression for a good long while, soaking in the long silence before she put the poor man out of his misery and gave him a wink with a trademark smirk.

"You're kidding!" He exclaimed in relief and she began laughing loudly, "fuck Regina that was not funny!" He shook his head and then groaned in to his hands as he brought them to rub his face in an attempt to bring the blood back.

"Your face!" She clapped her hands once in amusement as she laughed and he groaned again but this time she could hear laughter in his voice.

"Shut up!" He laughed and dropped his hands back in to his lap to find her eyes closed as she laughed, "that was-god, Regina!" He laughed again with a shake of his head and his hands to rid himself of his nervously racing heart, "not funny! Why would you say something like that?!"

...

"David!" She shrieked his name as she laughed and sprinted through the forest, "I was kidding!" She laughed as she leapt over a fallen log and heard David's running footsteps not too far behind her. She was fast but she didn't imagine she was that much faster than him so his distance behind her could only be because of her small body being more agile than his own and it had her laughing all the more.

As she ran she looked over her shoulder and saw no sign of him but instead ran in to something. Or someone. Regina yelped at the sudden contact and stumbled to catch her balance as foreign hands gripped her waist to try and keep the body they belonged to from hitting the ground. Paying no mind to the hands still holding her waist Regina looked up to find wide green eyes staring at her in disbelief.

"You!" She cheered happily.

"You?!" Regina furrowed her brow and shook her head, too stunned to back away from the girl's grip.

"I found you!" She laughed in excitement and without warning wrapped her arms around Regina's neck only to have her protest with the start of sentence but then just give in to an irritated sigh as her hands rested on either side of her ribs.

"Aurora," she deadpanned and the girl hummed happily with her head resting on her shoulder, "get off me."

"No."

Regina rolled her eyes and tried to step away but Aurora simply clung to her and didn't allow for it. At the sound of rustling bushes Regina snapped her head to him, "David! Get it off me!"

"After what you put in my head? No way," he laughed with a shake of his head and Regina groaned and dropped her head so her chin rested on Aurora's shoulder, "hello Aurora," he greeted as he pulled out his phone.

"Hello David."

"Put that away!"

"No," he laughed and aimed the phone at her.

"David!" She whined and tried once more to get away from Aurora's grip.

"Hey kid, this is Aurora or as you may know her, Sleeping Beauty," he smiled and Regina grumbled some form of insult under her breath, "your mother is thrilled to have crossed paths with her again."

"Absolutely ecstatic," she agreed with such a slow and enunciated tone that it could only mean the opposite.

"Who are you talking to?" Aurora questioned as she looked at David who held a small black rectangle in his hands, "what is that?"

"We are doing a video log for Regina's son so he can see this place and apparently the people still in it," he smiled and Aurora looked at him as though he was speaking an entirely different language, "we'll show you later. It's kind of hard to explain."

Aurora nodded and eyed over the black rectangle one more time before gasping, "oh that's right! I have news for you!"

"Yes well if you would be so kind as to let go-"

"No," she cut her off and wrapped her arms tighter.

"Why not?!" She snapped and tried once again to get free.

"Because I need to do something right on this trek and letting you disappear would be the end of my sanity!"

"I'm flattered, really I am but I am not going to go anywhere."

"They'll be back soon and then I will let you go."

"David!"

He only shook his head and leaned his back against a tree, crossing one ankle over the other as he watched with a grin and kept the video recording.

"Oh come on! I never touched your daughter I swear! I never even thought about it!" She couldn't help but have laughter lace her voice as she shook her head and all but begged for him to get her out of Aurora's arms. "You know if I use magic Cora will find me and therefore you," David only shook his head with a laugh so with a pout she rested her chin back on Aurora's shoulder, "if I hug you back will you let me go?"

Aurora smiled and breathed out a laugh as David laughed a little louder, "no but I wouldn't mind if you did."

"No," Regina snapped and both David and Aurora laughed at her suffering.

"Aurora!"

"Mulan! Mulan look!" Aurora beamed and let go of Regina only to move behind her and place her hands on the woman's arms just beneath her shoulders, "I found her!"

"Yes," Regina deadpanned with a nod at Mulan, "she found me."

"You are very difficult to find," Mulan breathed out almost frustratedly but also allowed for a relieved laugh to lace her voice.

"Yes well I've been hiding from someone."

"Cora."

"Yes," she nodded and then her eyes snapped to the voice behind Mulan as he came from the trees.

"I suppose I really should apologize for that slight inconvenience your majesty."

"Slight inconvenience!?" She laughed coldly and snarled as he walked closer.

With a quiet laugh David allowed Aurora to gingerly take the phone from his fingers to study it as it continued recording, "who is that?" He nodded his head to the man Regina was currently yelling at. The fact that she was arguing already didn't surprise him in the least. She had a lot of enemies.

"He was a blacksmith in our safe haven," Mulan answered simply and David nodded as they both watched him and Regina interact while Aurora wandered around with the phone, "what is she holding?"

"It's a device from our land. It's called a phone but it has many other uses. Right now she's taking a video...I'll show you later."

"Mulan! You are inside this little black box!" She grinned excitedly and David laughed and shook his head while a sudden eruption of rage occurred behind her that had all three turning to see what it was about.

"So not only did you _not_ kill her but you kept her alive so she could rip my heart out and crush it!?"

"Well when you put it like that love, it makes me sound rather terrible."

"I don't see anything false about that statement," she shook her head slowly with eyes widened a little and her arms spread out at her sides.

"Oh, well that just hurts," he retorted smoothly and then raised his eyebrows and sighed a little as he continued, "But what can I say? Her offer was better."

Furious with the smug grin on his face she gritted her teeth and held his blue gaze steadily before sending him stumbling backward with her fist connecting hard with his jaw. As he stumbled back she moved her hands quickly and without his knowledge in to his satchel, stepping up close to him again with unbridled rage.

"I must admit you have quite a good arm your majesty," he laughed off his irritation and spat out a mouthful of blood of to the side, a result of his jaw biting down hard on his tongue because of her blow. He was then pushed hard against a tree and let out a tight sigh through his nose when he felt the cold sharp point of his hook digging in to his skin beneath his jaw.

"Why are you here _Captain_?" She hissed and pushed a harder with the hook and he lifted his chin a little higher to escape the pressure.

David rubbed his hands over his face with a long sigh and held his hand out toward Aurora and she gently placed his phone in it. He smiled his thanks and then turned the camera to face him, "we'll check back in a little later bud. We're missing you," and with that he ended the video and pushed the phone in his pocket before walking up to Regina.

"Well this certainly brings back old memories," he grinned and his hook pierced his skin as a result. He cringed a little and then laughed as he gave in, "I want to kill the Dark One," he stated simply and her dark eyes dug in to his skin, "dearest Cora has promised me a journey to the world he resides in so long as I keep an eye on you and deliver you to her at some point."

Regina's lip curled back in a snarl and she slowly shook her head, "I have no plans to be permanently reunited with my mother."

"Well offer me a ride back to your world and I'll make sure you'll stay free of your mother's care."

"Not on your life!" She growled and dug the hook in a little more and watched him squirm against the tree in discomfort.

"Hey," David touched her arm and her murderous hand stopped, "come on," he encouraged softly and began pulling on her arm. He glanced at the man he had put together to be the infamous Captain Hook and he looked back at him with a silent thanks as Regina lowered her arm from his jaw at his gentle touch. Out of new habit he gave a soft kiss on the side of her head as his hand covered hers and she closed her eyes with a deep breath and gave up the metal hook from her deadly grip.

He didn't think anything of the tender gesture until he looked back up to find Hook staring at them both with startled curiosity. Without an explanation David handed the man his hook and steered his stubborn Regina away only to find Mulan and Aurora watching them with blank expressions as they tried to process what exactly it was they had just witnessed.

"Why is it you two have been looking for me?" Regina questioned the two women curiously with an underlying sharp tone, remnants of the anger directed Hook's way.

"Oh, yes, right," Aurora stumbled over her words and quietly cleared her throat, "your son Henry-"

"How do you know my son's name?" She interrupted quickly, her voice heightening half an octave with a sudden distrust toward the princess.

"I've been speaking with him while I sleep," she offered and the queen furrowed her brow and cocked her head irritably with guarded angry eyes, "we have both come to the agreement that it is a side effect of the sleeping curse. The nightmares after we wake up," she nodded and spoke with her hands, her gaze caught for a moment when David inhaled slowly in recognition, "it appears as though victims of the curse have the ability to communicate in this netherworld and he found me. He's worried about you, about you both and he asked us to look for you after he found out that we had crossed paths upon your arrival to-" she was cut off when Regina stepped forward and snatched her wrist up in an iron grip to study her forearm.

Regina's heart beat wildly in her chest as she studied the burns down Aurora's arm. With her voice and breath audibly shaking in panic, rage, and self loathing she slowly raised her free hand and pointed at the burns before meeting Aurora's eye, "these burns. You got them while you were in that netherworld didn't you."

"...yes," Aurora whispered reluctantly, knowing quite well that the brunette was thinking about the similar burns etching in to her son's skin. The woman's grip tightened uncomfortably around her wrist but Aurora didn't say a word and simply bit her tongue patiently waiting for her to let go.

Regina threw the woman's arm down with her jaw clenched and her eyes furiously pushed shut as she spun around and walked away a couple steps and pushed tense fingers through her hair.

"Regina," David tried to soothe as he walked up behind her anticipating the blow out that he was prodding her for so she didn't bottle it up inside. He reached forward to touch her but the instant his fingers touched her shoulder she jerked away from it.

"Don't touch me," she hissed in a slow whisper.

"Regina-" he tried again and she snapped and spun around.

"Don't touch me!" She screamed viciously at the top of her lungs and hit his chest hard with both her hands sending him stumbling backwards as tears started to fall from her eyes. He remained calm and understanding without the slightest hint of anger or hurt in his expression and that only had her tears falling faster, "my son is hurting because of me! He can't sleep without waking up with crude burns all over him!"

"That is not your fault, Regina-"

"It is my fault!" She screamed at him and pointed at herself as she leaned forward, "I brought the curse there! I put him in danger!"

"He was not the target," he soothed and stepped forward but she stepped back from him but kept her posture aggressive.

"It doesn't matter! I know him better than that! He knows me better than that! I am his mother! I didn't think hard enough about the consequences! I should have paid mind to the fact that he would be in Emma's company, that he would have seen the turnover, that he would have put the pieces together like the smart boy that he is and that he would have put himself under that god damn curse just to make Emma believe! I put my son in danger and now he is still getting hurt! Because of _me_!"

"He is a brave and strong boy Regina-"

"That does not matter," she shook her head and laughed humourlessly as her tears fell on her son's behalf, "I am his mother! My job is to keep him safe not put him at risk for falling under a sleeping curse!"

"You didn't know."

"That is not the point David! I should have known! I let my revenge and selfishness pull rank over the well being of my son! My son! And now he's lost in some flaming hell of a dream world terrified and burning himself alive and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it!"

At the break of silence between the pair, Aurora took a small step forward and watched another tear fall down the queen's face, "if I could just interject," she broke the silence quietly and Regina turned her head to look her in the eye, "he loves you," she stated gently and Regina's jaw clenched and unclenched as her eyes welled up with more tears, "when we found you he wanted me to tell you that he loves you and he misses you."

Regina closed her eyes and staggered slightly to catch her balance as she breathed out a quiet cry with a shaking hand hovering over her mouth and the other over her stomach. She hadn't heard her son tell her he loved her in nearly a year. Not since he had gotten that book.

This time when David reached forward and touched her arm she fell in to him and let him wrap his arms around her as she cried in to his chest. "He _loves_ you," he assured slowly with a strong but gentle voice that was steadfast with the belief that his words were true. He thought of asking but he decided against it. He didn't want to know how long it took without them for a mother to break in to tears at the return of the three little words.

...

After returning to her and David's small camp to gather their possessions, the five of them carried on. Regina had not divulged their destination to anyone but Mulan for she found her trustworthy and was not entirely keen on Hook meeting up with Cora to tell her where she should meet up with them. Although with Hook near she imagined her mother could be making more appearances and that put her on edge.

With Hook sitting on his own and David talking with Mulan, Regina walked up to Aurora and sat down next to her on the ground in front of the fire. With gentle fingers she picked up one of the princess' wounded arms and Aurora allowed the contact without a fight. Frowning at the burns she brought a soft purple glow to her hand, "do they hurt," she asked quietly and moved her hand up the girl's arm.

"Yes," she nodded and watched the burns erase from her skin, "but I've sort of gotten used to them and Mulan concocted a salve to ease the pain...I thought you didn't want to use magic so that Cora couldn't find you?"

Regina shrugged a little and moved her hand back down Aurora's arm to assure everything was healed, "with Hook working so closely with her I do not see much point in hiding any longer."

When Regina held her hand open Aurora pivoted toward her a little and pushed her other arm forward for Regina to heal, "I suppose that makes sense. We had no idea he wasn't who he said he was..."

"That is quite alright. I do not blame you for that and neither should you. He is an adept liar. I'm afraid with my mother's careful planning he has only become more so."

Aurora nodded silently and waited for Regina to finish and let go of her arm, "thank you."

"Are there any more?"

"No."

Regina squinted her eyes and shook her head, "do not lie to me dear. Not when I've started to like you," at the girl's falsely innocent stare back Regina glanced at her side and then back up to her eyes, "lift your shirt."

Aurora smiled and breathed out a laugh before opening her mouth to assure the woman she had no more burns but then thought better of it. It would cause nothing but trouble if she were to lie to Regina, "fine," she caved and glanced over at Hook before standing up and walking away with an understanding Regina following close behind.

Once out of sight from the rest of the group Aurora stopped and Regina stood patiently but Aurora didn't move, "come now dear don't be shy. I won't bite." After a deep breath she watched as Aurora moved reluctant fingers to unbuckle the brown leather vest and dropped it on the ground before she turned her back to her and took the hem of her white shirt and pulled it over her head leaving her torso completely bare under the moonlight. Regina cringed at the ugly scar up her back and stepped closer to her so she could rid her of it.

Aurora was tense and uncomfortable with the arrangement and Regina was not oblivious to it. So in a moment of bravery she started talking in the hopes of perhaps easing the girl's discomfort, "his name was Daniel," she started softly as her hands began between Aurora's shoulder blades, "he was our stable boy but I didn't care. I loved him all the same. No one knew, we kept it a secret. A princess and a stable boy is not particularly a proper pairing...when it was arranged that I was to marry the king we decided to run away together."

She paused and blinked slowly as her hands healed Aurora's skin over her lower back, "he proposed with the ring he had pulled off a saddle and naturally I agreed. But dear Snow White had decided to come to the stables that evening as well," she laughed quietly and bitterly with a shake of her head as she swallowed her tears. "I made her promise me she wouldn't tell a soul and she was overjoyed that I had found happiness. But her promise lasted not twenty four hours and the following night my mother caught Daniel and I trying to run away. She ripped his heart out right in front of me and I watched him fall as she crushed it in to dust."

She shook her head and looked over Aurora's back for any further blemishes before bending down to pick up her leather vest as a signal that she had finished. When she stood back up Aurora was straightening the hem of her loose white shirt and Regina handed her the vest. "I do know what it's like to lose a loved one. You tried to get me to talk before but I wasn't ready to share a story I held so close to my heart," she gave a sad smile and then looked up a little as she took a deep breath before meeting Aurora's eyes.

"There is no way to cure the dead and it took me a very long time to accept that. Be grateful Aurora that you can save Phillip. Be grateful that at some point you will see him walking around once again. Be grateful that someday soon he will hold your hand and tell you everything will be fine when you know for a fact that nothing will be," she whispered shakily with a subtle and unsteady rock of her head as her tears fell slowly from her eyes.

Aurora nodded but couldn't speak for she had no words and instead hurried forward and hugged Regina tight and this time the woman slowly wrapped her arms around her in return and dropped her head on her shoulder.

"And thank you for keeping my son company when he was scared and alone," she whispered and closed her eyes.


End file.
